Bank of America Boosts Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $115.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price objective boosted by Bank of America from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE KMB opened at $135.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.87. Kimberly-Clark has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $147.09.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $437,420,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,155 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,815,000 after acquiring an additional 641,187 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,197,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,530,000 after acquiring an additional 524,632 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 552.4% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 456,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,163,000 after acquiring an additional 386,497 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.