California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,232,184 shares of the company’s stock after selling 248,461 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $158,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.6% during the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Crews Bank & Trust now owns 3,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $102.96 on Monday. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.22 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.41. The firm has a market cap of $34.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $112.50 and a 200-day moving average of $124.48.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.37. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 183.11% and a net margin of 10.89%.The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 85.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KMB shares. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays set a $132.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

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.