Apollon Wealth Management LLC Acquires 702 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,723 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 702 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. CX Institutional raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $825,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 10,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the first quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.6% during the first quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 5,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.1% in the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on KMB. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $143.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,311,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,179,614. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $139.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.08. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $145.62. The company has a market cap of $48.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.