Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Acquired by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 363,350 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,719 shares during the period. Kimberly-Clark comprises approximately 2.2% of Welch Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Welch Group LLC owned about 0.11% of Kimberly-Clark worth $51,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,494 shares of the company's stock valued at $851,000 after buying an additional 2,765 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 124,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,341,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 4,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total transaction of $234,547.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $405,032.52. This represents a 36.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $143.90. The company had a trading volume of 3,382,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,179,610. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $137.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.33. The firm has a market cap of $47.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $124.10 and a 52-week high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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 (EPS) 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 firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.08.

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.