Swedbank AB Purchases Shares of 159,716 Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 159,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,659,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after purchasing an additional 944,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $437,420,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,559,000 after buying an additional 342,790 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,093,000 after buying an additional 48,103 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 9.8% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,487,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,451,000 after acquiring an additional 132,576 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 3,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.82, for a total transaction of $524,431.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the sale, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 43,312 shares of company stock worth $6,106,519. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.2 %

KMB stock traded up $1.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $140.10. 2,401,756 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,480,943. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.68. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $145.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $47.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37.

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 business had revenue of $5.03 billion for 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 was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen began coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.