InvesTrust Takes $420,000 Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

InvesTrust purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $420,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.6 %

KMB stock traded down $0.77 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $126.53. 786,817 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,602,706. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $133.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.57.

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.