Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC Boosts Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,364 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $437,420,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 944,920 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 277.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,040,000 after purchasing an additional 330,327 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $142.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $116.32 and a twelve month high of $149.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $142.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.18. The stock has a market cap of $47.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s 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 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Barclays dropped their target price 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. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price for the company. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

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.