New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 328,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $40,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,435,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,212,942,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200,011 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at $556,114,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 350.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,583,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,501 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 32,568.4% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 978,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,138,000 after purchasing an additional 975,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 88.9% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,048,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,274,000 after purchasing an additional 963,978 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB opened at $99.99 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $101.82 and a 200 day moving average of $115.45. The stock has a market cap of $33.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 52-week low of $96.26 and a 52-week high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 170.48% and a net margin of 11.73%.The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.58.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.