Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target Raised to $136.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Barclays from $132.00 to $136.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 0.13% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.50.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded down $1.60 on Thursday, reaching $136.18. 1,790,117 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,216,047. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $125.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.66. The firm has a market cap of $45.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $147.09.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 204.0% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after purchasing an additional 13,806 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $4,253,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $1,661,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,740,000 after buying an additional 368,505 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.