Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Bought by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 503,839 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.46% of Kimberly-Clark worth $213,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $762,279,000 after acquiring an additional 944,920 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 13,720.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 641,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,659,000 after purchasing an additional 636,882 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,926,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,094 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 277.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 472,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,466,000 after purchasing an additional 347,778 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KMB. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price target on the stock. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $141.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $142.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

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