New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 403,102 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,700 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $52,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $137.85 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $118.62 and a 12-month high of $149.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Kimberly-Clark’s 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.