Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Stock

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $140.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 0.52% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on KMB. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $140.73 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $136.12 and a 200-day moving average of $135.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 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.