Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB Shares Bought by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 29.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,661,899 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,503,018 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $642,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,846,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,121,027,000 after buying an additional 315,981 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,125,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,157,746,000 after acquiring an additional 294,228 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,917,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,322,000 after acquiring an additional 299,382 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,322,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $836,216,000 after acquiring an additional 65,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,839,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628,206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total value of $401,310.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total value of $152,162.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,233.08. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $101.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.93.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:KMB opened at $109.31 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $105.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.42 and a 12-month high of $137.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.26.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 152.79% and a net margin of 12.80%.The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 80.38%.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.