Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) PT Raised to $131.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $125.00 to $131.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 1.03% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on KMB. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.93.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE KMB traded up $2.39 on Thursday, hitting $129.66. 894,668 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,088,853. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $122.41 and a 200 day moving average of $121.95. Kimberly-Clark has a twelve month low of $116.32 and a twelve month high of $147.87. The company has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,191,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $869,090,000 after purchasing an additional 177,712 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,465,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,180,000 after acquiring an additional 108,050 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,815,000 after purchasing an additional 641,187 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,948,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,260,000 after purchasing an additional 144,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,345,000 after purchasing an additional 212,739 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company's Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names.