Vest Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 347,269 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,339 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.10% of Kimberly-Clark worth $49,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted 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 acquiring an additional 944,920 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,559,000 after acquiring an additional 342,790 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,093,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,539,000 after purchasing an additional 503,839 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.14.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $145.41. 3,915,416 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,107,141. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. The company has a market capitalization of $48.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.39. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $116.63 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for 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 company’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

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.