Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Purchased by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 428,577 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,002 shares during the period. Kimberly-Clark comprises about 0.9% of Vest Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.13% of Kimberly-Clark worth $60,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,589,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,387,709,000 after buying an additional 529,223 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,473,459 shares of the company's stock worth $1,113,444,000 after purchasing an additional 797,953 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,529,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $986,616,000 after buying an additional 417,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $740,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research 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 MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE KMB traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $132.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,006,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,182,196. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $137.30 and a 200 day moving average of $135.44. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $124.10 and a 1-year high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.66%.

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.