Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Acquired by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,547 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $357,420. The trade was a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $143.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.49. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $122.98 and a 1-year high of $149.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

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.