Wrapmanager Inc. Trims Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Wrapmanager Inc. decreased its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,721 shares of the company’s stock after selling 944 shares during the period. Wrapmanager Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,155 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,815,000 after buying an additional 641,187 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 31.4% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,197,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,530,000 after acquiring an additional 524,632 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 552.4% in the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 456,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,163,000 after acquiring an additional 386,497 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,740,000 after acquiring an additional 368,505 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $136.66. 1,053,462 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,213,781. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $145.29. The company has a market capitalization of $46.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total value of $866,420.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,562,467.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total transaction of $866,420.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,562,467.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,891.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,562 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,345. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.