Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 11.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 96,628 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,808 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $13,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 12,768 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 8.2% in the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 127,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,145,000 after buying an additional 9,643 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 108.6% during the first quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 45,088 shares of the company's stock worth $6,412,000 after acquiring an additional 23,472 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 106,600.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 7,469 shares of the company's stock worth $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 7,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.8% in the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 16,337 shares of the company's stock worth $2,198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on KMB shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.50.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.4%

KMB traded down $1.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $128.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,820,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,200,938. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $135.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.82. 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 $42.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. 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 (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS 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 company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total transaction of $95,978.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $518,410.90. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.