UBS Group Lowers Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $132.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at UBS Group from $151.00 to $132.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 3.67% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.71.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $127.33 on Thursday. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $117.67 and a 52 week high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $132.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.98.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KMB. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,506,000 after buying an additional 576,610 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,284,000 after buying an additional 551,158 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,539,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.