Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $1.09 Million Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lowered its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 59.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,951 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,062 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 2,078 shares during the period. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC now owns 16,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,967,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,637,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 397.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 14,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after buying an additional 11,929 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,324.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,891.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total transaction of $61,398.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,324.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,562 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,345 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $136.10. 1,907,297 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,226,598. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $146.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $45.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.33.

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

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.85.

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.