Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 2,998 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Wright Investors Service Inc. cut its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 28.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,509 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,998 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 333.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were 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 $2,819,207.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,207.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.6 %

Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $140.89. 1,593,036 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,117,425. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $142.24 and its 200-day moving average is $137.21. 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 has a market capitalization of $47.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.