State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Increases Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 4.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 112,839 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,183 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $14,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the second quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.9% in the second quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB opened at $109.41 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a twelve month low of $96.26 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $101.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.59.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 170.48%. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.03%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.29, for a total transaction of $317,980.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Argus raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $162.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.58.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

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.