Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 403,102 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,700 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.12% of Kimberly-Clark worth $52,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 35.5% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 13,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,771,000 after acquiring an additional 3,543 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 1,756 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 7,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $985,000 after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 61,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,178,000 after acquiring an additional 7,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 292,932 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,386,000 after acquiring an additional 4,688 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE KMB traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $140.17. 1,129,191 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,132,859. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $118.62 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business's fifty day moving average price is $130.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.48.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 64.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.64.

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.