Teacher Retirement System of Texas Decreases Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 37.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 266,903 shares of the company's stock after selling 160,471 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.08% of Kimberly-Clark worth $37,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Revisor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter worth about $413,000. Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 6,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 41,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,870,000 after buying an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $132.53. 1,015,997 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,204,333. The stock has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The firm's 50-day moving average is $134.26 and its 200-day moving average is $134.71. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $124.10 and a 1-year high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on KMB. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total transaction of $95,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.64% 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.