1832 Asset Management L.P. Sells 8,173 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

1832 Asset Management L.P. decreased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 32.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,808 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,173 shares during the quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 7,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 2,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 4,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 12,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,563,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE KMB traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $141.81. The stock had a trading volume of 2,064,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,201,267. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 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 fifty day moving average price of $137.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.23. The company has a market capitalization of $47.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The business’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,101,891.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,462 shares of company stock valued at $7,206,653. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.