Chase Investment Counsel Corp Lowers Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp lowered its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,756 shares of the company’s stock after selling 439 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after buying an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 69,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,459,000 after buying an additional 11,900 shares in the last quarter. Toews Corp ADV acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $773,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 104,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,670,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $350,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $135.93 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $126.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.03. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $147.02. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $45.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total transaction of $866,420.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,562,467.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total transaction of $866,420.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,562,467.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.