Merriman Wealth Management LLC Takes $212,000 Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Merriman Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 11,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 2,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Team Hewins LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $453,000. Sepio Capital LP purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 356,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,359,000 after acquiring an additional 20,872 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $140.75 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $142.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.10. The company has a market cap of $47.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39. 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 Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 target price for the company. 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.