Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,555 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,489 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Doug Cunningham sold 3,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.82, for a total transaction of $524,431.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,312 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,519 over the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.2 %

KMB stock traded up $1.62 on Friday, hitting $140.10. 2,401,756 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,480,943. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $116.32 and a twelve month high of $145.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business’s fifty day moving average is $138.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on KMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark 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.