Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) Given New $125.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $125.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 24.87% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $129.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays set a $132.00 price target on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $162.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.80.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KMB traded down $2.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.10. The stock had a trading volume of 8,105,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,541,310. Kimberly-Clark has a 1 year low of $99.60 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $123.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.63. The company has a market capitalization of $33.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.37. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 184.87% and a net margin of 12.87%.The company had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 14.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,435,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,212,942,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200,011 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth $556,114,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2,982.8% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,384,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,878,000 after buying an additional 1,339,413 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 350.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,583,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 32,568.4% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 978,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,138,000 after acquiring an additional 975,424 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.