Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Sells 556 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lessened its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,318 shares of the company’s stock after selling 556 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $9,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 18.2% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 454,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,738,000 after buying an additional 69,794 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 506.8% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after acquiring an additional 10,820 shares during the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $1,081,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $1,094,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $11,994,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $140.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.39 billion, a PE ratio of 25.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.01. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.71%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.