Griffith & Werner Inc. Invests $247,000 in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock worth $239,267,000 after buying an additional 273,813 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 728,728 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,492,000 after purchasing an additional 3,273 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised 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 valued at $60,615,000 after purchasing an additional 12,768 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 32,556 shares of the company's stock worth $4,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,641 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 279,044 shares of the company's stock worth $36,776,000 after acquiring an additional 38,529 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $142.66. 1,748,549 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,184,588. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $124.10 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $47.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The company's 50 day moving average price is $137.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.13. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is presently 68.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on KMB. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total transaction of $95,978.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,372 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,684 over the last ninety days. 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.