Rafferty Asset Management LLC Buys 2,946 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,943 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,946 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $550,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,429,418 shares of the company's stock worth $187,311,000 after acquiring an additional 115,751 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $645,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 748.0% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 16,179 shares of the company's stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 14,271 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 477.9% during the 4th quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 10,917 shares of the company's stock worth $1,431,000 after acquiring an additional 9,028 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on KMB. Piper Sandler reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $95,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62% 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, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,872 shares of company stock worth $2,208,684. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.4%

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $139.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $137.09 and a 200-day moving average of $134.75.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio 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.

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