Acadian Asset Management LLC Purchases 330,327 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,360,883 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 330,327 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.40% of Kimberly-Clark worth $188,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 10,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% during the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.6% in the first quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 5,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of KMB stock opened at $146.91 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.61. 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 company has a market capitalization of $49.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.39.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas assumed 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. Argus upgraded Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 insiders.

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.