The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $152.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $135.00 to $152.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock.

KMB has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $123.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $135.21.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $137.78 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $125.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.66. Kimberly-Clark has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $147.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 4,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.