SRN Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 5,746 Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

SRN Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,431,443,000 after buying an additional 358,926 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,388,000 after buying an additional 206,671 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,040,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,459,000 after buying an additional 30,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $139.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $120.49 and a one year high of $149.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.