Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,148,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KMB. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 18.8% in the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company's stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 423,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,181,000 after buying an additional 13,757 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 8.1% during the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 5,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 13.3% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.5% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,138 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 2,044 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE KMB traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $136.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,907,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,559,916. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.38. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $127.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.44. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $146.15.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on KMB. Bank of America raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $134.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,101,891.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,101,891.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total value of $142,334.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $524,584.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,562 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,345 over the last quarter. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.