Ascent Group LLC Purchases 931 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,274 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 931 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 13,720.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 641,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,659,000 after buying an additional 636,882 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,539,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,443,000 after purchasing an additional 358,926 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 32.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $136.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $117.67 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $138.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.35.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.93.

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.