Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 2,085 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 155,586 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $22,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.8%

KMB stock traded up $1.04 during trading on Thursday, hitting $133.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,551,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,179,657. The business has a 50-day moving average of $136.76 and a 200-day moving average of $135.37. 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 $44.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a PEG 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is 68.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total value of $234,547.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $405,032.52. The trade was a 36.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.