Advisor Resource Council Buys Shares of 6,693 Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $952,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,603,787 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $582,592,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 10,975.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,902,050 shares of the company's stock valued at $270,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,877 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 163.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,142,749 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,341 shares during the period. Finally, Trinity Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter valued at about $181,762,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.73.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $128.29. 5,306,945 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,193,239. The business's fifty day moving average is $135.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.89. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $124.10 and a one year high of $150.45. The stock has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 owns 3,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $405,032.52. This trade represents a 36.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

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.