Marco Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Marco Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,515 shares of the company’s stock after selling 220 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $479,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,166,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,758,000 after purchasing an additional 53,578 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 15,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 46,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,286 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:KMB opened at $146.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.07. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $149.30. The company has a market capitalization of $49.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85.

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. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.71%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 value of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KMB. Bank of America upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

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.