Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,406 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,340 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $19,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE KMB traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $142.66. 1,748,549 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,184,569. The business's 50 day moving average is $137.31 and its 200-day moving average is $135.13. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $124.10 and a 12-month high of $150.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $95,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $518,410.90. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,372 shares of company stock worth $1,858,684 in the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.