Comerica Bank Has $29.22 Million Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 225,864 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Kimberly-Clark worth $29,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after purchasing an additional 944,920 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $437,420,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,559,000 after acquiring an additional 342,790 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,093,000 after acquiring an additional 48,103 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,487,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,451,000 after acquiring an additional 132,576 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,312 shares of company stock worth $6,106,519 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KMB. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 2.7 %

KMB stock traded up $3.60 during trading on Thursday, reaching $138.65. 1,111,432 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,183,532. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $138.03 and its 200 day moving average is $130.52. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $116.32 and a twelve month high of $145.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. The firm has a market cap of $46.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend 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.