Analysts Set Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Target Price at $143.64

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $143.64.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,603,787 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $582,592,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 163.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,142,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,341 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $740,868,000 after buying an additional 1,015,141 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of KMB opened at $132.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark has a 12 month low of $117.93 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The stock has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $129.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.57.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 64.64%.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

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.