Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Buys 1,884 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,649 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,884 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after acquiring an additional 944,920 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $437,420,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,559,000 after buying an additional 342,790 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,093,000 after buying an additional 48,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,487,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,451,000 after acquiring an additional 132,576 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of KMB stock traded up $2.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $140.58. 661,430 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,181,243. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $139.34 and its 200-day moving average is $131.65. The company has a market cap of $47.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $145.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

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.