Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 4,258 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 46,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,258 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $6,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after acquiring an additional 944,920 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $437,420,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,559,000 after purchasing an additional 342,790 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,093,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,487,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,451,000 after purchasing an additional 132,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total value of $142,334.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,833 shares in the company, valued at $524,584.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,072 shares of company stock worth $6,340,233 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB traded down $0.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $141.40. 1,341,169 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,161,810. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.28. The stock has a market cap of $47.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.94, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.37. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $145.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.