Private Advisor Group LLC Acquires 4,375 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,601 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,375 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 9.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 126,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,271,000 after purchasing an additional 10,795 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 53.9% during the 3rd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 6,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.1% in the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 20,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter valued at $632,000. Finally, Smith Salley & Associates increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 29.1% in the third quarter. Smith Salley & Associates now owns 3,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.85.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,891.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total transaction of $142,334.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $524,584.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,562 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,345. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $135.93 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.62. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $145.67. The company has a market capitalization of $45.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 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. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.71%.

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.