Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Increases Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 50.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,767 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,274 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the 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 now owns 3,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $405,032.52. This represents a 36.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KMB. Barclays decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE KMB traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $132.93. 506,848 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,175,442. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $136.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.39. The company has a market cap of $44.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.66%.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.