MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Raises Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,552 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,206 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $8,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock worth $1,807,000 after buying an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock worth $239,267,000 after buying an additional 273,813 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 728,728 shares of the company's stock worth $95,492,000 after buying an additional 3,273 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,574 shares of the company's stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 2,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 464,053 shares of the company's stock worth $60,615,000 after buying an additional 12,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.6%

KMB traded up $0.81 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $141.60. 2,421,548 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,166,809. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $137.11 and a 200 day moving average of $134.80. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 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 issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $518,410.90. This trade represents a 15.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,872 shares of company stock worth $2,208,684. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.