Advisory Alpha LLC Purchases 188 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,087 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,443,000 after acquiring an additional 358,926 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,388,000 after acquiring an additional 206,671 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,900,000 after acquiring an additional 20,953 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $127.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $132.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.71.

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.