Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Raises Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 23.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,108 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,279,000 after acquiring an additional 944,920 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $437,420,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,559,000 after purchasing an additional 342,790 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,093,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 9.8% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,487,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,451,000 after purchasing an additional 132,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $146.25 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The stock has a market cap of $49.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

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.