Waverly Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 37.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,282 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 20,973 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $10,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $2,002,000. Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,267 shares of the company's stock worth $1,345,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. WBI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,137,000. Texas Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $331,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 36,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,832,000 after buying an additional 2,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB traded up $1.81 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $141.56. The company had a trading volume of 2,582,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,184,694. The business has a 50-day moving average of $137.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.02. 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 1 year low of $124.10 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $46.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35.

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, 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 company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. As a group, equities 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 paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40% 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. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,372 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,684. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group upped 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.08.

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.