LS Investment Advisors LLC Sells 155 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

LS Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,853 shares of the company’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total value of $234,547.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $405,032.52. This trade represents a 36.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $138.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.48. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.08.

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.