Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,597 shares of the company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. DMKC Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $1,756,000. Advisor OS LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 12,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 139,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,324,000 after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 70,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report 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 report 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $139.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $120.49 and a 1 year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

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.