Brown Advisory Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 90.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,336 shares of the company's stock after selling 567,145 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $8,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock worth $4,605,079,000 after buying an additional 4,603,787 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,473,459 shares of the company's stock worth $1,113,444,000 after buying an additional 797,953 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,529,108 shares of the company's stock worth $986,616,000 after buying an additional 417,118 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company's stock worth $740,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $582,592,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded down $0.71 on Tuesday, reaching $126.75. 2,163,213 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,218,965. The company has a market capitalization of $42.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The firm's 50-day moving average is $134.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $134.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 3,098 shares in the company, valued at $405,032.52. The trade was a 36.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

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.