Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Holdings Raised by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 14.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,324 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 641,187 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,345,000 after purchasing an additional 212,739 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,051,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,650,000 after buying an additional 155,066 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $437,420,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.5% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,434,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,068,000 after buying an additional 148,076 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on KMB shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.31.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,101,891.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 795 shares in the company, valued at $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,395 shares of company stock valued at $3,332,776 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of KMB opened at $141.67 on Thursday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $116.32 and a 1 year high of $141.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.68. The stock has a market cap of $47.70 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 89.71%.

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.