Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,243 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,070 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $10,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KMB. Childress Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter valued at about $216,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15,538.4% in the 1st quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 38,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,449,000 after buying an additional 38,069 shares in the last quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,292,000. Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 6,628 shares of the company's stock worth $943,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 10,897 shares of the company's stock worth $1,550,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $128.29. The stock had a trading volume of 5,306,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,193,239. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $124.10 and a 1-year high of $150.45. The firm has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, 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. The business's fifty day moving average is $135.96 and its 200-day moving average is $134.89.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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 increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered 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 three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 3,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $518,410.90. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is 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.