KBC Group NV Purchases 326,561 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

KBC Group NV lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 201.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 488,770 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 326,561 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.15% of Kimberly-Clark worth $69,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,787 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $582,592,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 10,975.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,902,050 shares of the company's stock worth $270,510,000 after buying an additional 1,884,877 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 163.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,142,749 shares of the company's stock worth $280,786,000 after buying an additional 1,328,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trinity Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at approximately $181,762,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $128.92. 2,172,599 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,198,463. The company has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $134.63 and a 200 day moving average of $134.76. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $124.10 and a 1-year high of $150.45. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.66%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $405,032.52. This trade represents a 36.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.50.

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.