Ballast Inc. Buys 567 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Ballast Inc. lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,571 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth about $39,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $127.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen cut 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.71.

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.