Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Given New $118.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Citigroup from $125.00 to $118.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a sell rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $175.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $147.07.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded down $0.58 on Wednesday, hitting $125.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,484,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,884,212. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $132.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The stock has a market cap of $41.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark has a 1-year low of $117.67 and a 1-year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. Kimberly-Clark's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. Analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. State Street Corp increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company's stock worth $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company's stock worth $77,284,000 after buying an additional 551,158 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company's stock worth $213,539,000 after buying an additional 503,839 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company's stock valued at $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,278,000 after acquiring an additional 386,510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

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.