Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $572,000 in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 7.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 105.4% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 53,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,390,000 after acquiring an additional 3,502 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 33.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of KMB stock opened at $139.35 on Monday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.30. The company has a market cap of $46.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

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.