Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target Raised to $126.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $123.00 to $126.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on KMB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday. HSBC increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.9 %

KMB opened at $135.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $125.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.87. The company has a market cap of $45.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark has a 1 year low of $116.32 and a 1 year high of $147.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The company’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 795 shares in the company, valued at $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KMB. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.1% in the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 4,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.