Sciencast Management LP Trims Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sciencast Management LP lowered its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 59.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,248 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,592 shares during the quarter. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,815,000 after purchasing an additional 641,187 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $437,420,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,926,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,114,000 after acquiring an additional 370,094 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,093,000 after acquiring an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,415,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,041,000 after acquiring an additional 70,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $141.53. 1,474,721 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,116,045. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $142.41. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.78. The company has a market capitalization of $47.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 3,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.82, for a total transaction of $524,431.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total value of $61,398.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 520 shares in the company, valued at $70,324.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Doug Cunningham sold 3,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.82, for a total transaction of $524,431.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,395 shares of company stock valued at $3,332,776. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.