Focus Partners Wealth Increases Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 239.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 133,699 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 94,309 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $17,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 416,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,248,000 after acquiring an additional 24,383 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 429 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,866 shares of the company's stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 72,307 shares of the company's stock worth $9,475,000 after acquiring an additional 3,697 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of KMB stock traded up $3.83 on Thursday, hitting $137.34. 2,625,819 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,155,758. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $137.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.08.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,872 shares of company stock worth $2,208,684. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.