Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 40.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 301,576 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 87,315 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.09% of Kimberly-Clark worth $42,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 46.4% in the first quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,770,000 after purchasing an additional 3,944 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 464,053 shares of the company's stock worth $60,615,000 after acquiring an additional 12,768 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 8.2% during 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. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 108.6% during the first quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 45,088 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,412,000 after buying an additional 23,472 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 7,462 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total transaction of $234,547.56. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $405,032.52. This represents a 36.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.6%

KMB stock traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $126.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,200,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,219,055. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $134.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.71. The company has a market capitalization of $42.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $124.10 and a 12 month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is 68.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.40.

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.