Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Purchased by Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 97.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,441 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,164 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $12,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of KMB stock traded up $1.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $141.56. 2,582,859 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,184,694. The stock has a market cap of $46.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $124.10 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.00.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $95,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at $518,410.90. This trade represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,372 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,684. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

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.