Versant Capital Management Inc Takes $250,000 Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 728,728 shares of the company's stock worth $95,492,000 after purchasing an additional 3,273 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 464,053 shares of the company's stock worth $60,615,000 after buying an additional 12,768 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 279,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,776,000 after buying an additional 38,529 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 844,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,645,000 after acquiring an additional 26,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 293.9% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 288,374 shares of the company's stock worth $37,789,000 after acquiring an additional 215,164 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total value of $234,547.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $405,032.52. This represents a 36.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.3%

Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.97. 613,866 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,172,069. The company has a fifty day moving average of $137.68 and a 200-day moving average of $135.46. The company has a market cap of $46.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $150.45.

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

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is 68.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.08.

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.