Shell Asset Management Co. Increases Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 136.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,210 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,011 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 204.0% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,500,000 after buying an additional 13,806 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 18.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 454,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,738,000 after buying an additional 69,794 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 506.8% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,574,000 after buying an additional 10,820 shares in the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,081,000. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,094,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased 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, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total value of $142,334.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $524,584.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total transaction of $866,420.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,562,467.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total transaction of $142,334.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $524,584.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 51,462 shares of company stock valued at $7,206,653 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.5 %

KMB opened at $141.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $145.62. The company has a market capitalization of $47.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.18.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.