Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Acquires 93 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,657 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KMB. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 18.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 454,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,738,000 after buying an additional 69,794 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 506.8% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after acquiring an additional 10,820 shares in the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $1,081,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $1,094,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,994,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $148.99. 65,410 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,127,346. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.21. The firm has a market cap of $50.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.39. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction 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 $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

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.