Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 31.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,323 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 30,342 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $17,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth $4,697,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 29.5% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 892 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.8% during the first quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. now owns 2,042 shares of the company's stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 64,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,285,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Defined Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter valued at about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total value of $234,547.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,098 shares in the company, valued at $405,032.52. This trade represents a 36.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $128.29 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $135.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.91. 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 $42.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $124.10 and a 12-month 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. The company 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. 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 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 of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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