Merit Financial Group LLC Has $1.89 Million Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 38.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,273 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,699 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock traded down $1.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $133.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,575,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,182,904. The company's 50 day moving average is $137.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.46. The stock has a market cap of $44.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 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.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

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.