Axa S.A. Acquires 49,247 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 21.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 281,136 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 49,247 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A. owned 0.08% of Kimberly-Clark worth $36,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock worth $239,267,000 after buying an additional 273,813 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,428,000 after buying an additional 33,623 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $95,978.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $518,410.90. The trade was a 15.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,872 shares of company stock worth $2,208,684. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE KMB traded up $0.74 on Wednesday, hitting $133.51. 2,953,548 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,134,602. The company's 50-day moving average price is $138.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.85. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $124.10 and a 52-week high of $150.45. The company has a market capitalization of $44.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is presently 68.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.08.

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.