California State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 2.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 385,999 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,273 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $37,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. now owns 20,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,467 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter worth $1,836,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 116,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,243,000 after purchasing an additional 19,506 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter worth $1,068,000. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 629.9% during the first quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 67,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,535,000 after buying an additional 58,459 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KMB. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $101.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.93.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $109.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $105.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.46. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.42 and a 12-month high of $137.46. The stock has a market cap of $36.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.26.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 152.79%. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 80.38%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $401,310.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total value of $152,162.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at $797,233.08. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.