West Family Investments Inc. Takes Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

West Family Investments Inc. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at $350,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 22,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,667,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the third quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 103.3% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total value of $61,398.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,324.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,562 shares of company stock worth $2,808,345 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB traded down $0.40 on Friday, hitting $136.10. 1,907,297 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,226,598. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $127.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.33. The firm has a market cap of $45.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.38. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $116.32 and a twelve month high of $146.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05.

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

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

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.