Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 6,020 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,444 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,020 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $18,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after purchasing an additional 944,920 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,383,000 after acquiring an additional 354,501 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position 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 during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,487,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,451,000 after purchasing an additional 132,576 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Insider Activity

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

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $141.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $47.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.96, a P/E/G 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $142.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.29. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.