Bridgewater Associates LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Bridgewater Associates LP decreased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 52.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,847 shares of the company’s stock after selling 257,529 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $33,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.93.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.4 %

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $139.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.60 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $138.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.21.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

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.