Vest Financial LLC Acquires 10,275 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 325,930 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,275 shares during the period. Kimberly-Clark comprises approximately 1.1% of Vest Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.10% of Kimberly-Clark worth $45,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $437,420,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the 1st 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 during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 277.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 472,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,466,000 after acquiring an additional 347,778 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 32.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,040,000 after purchasing an additional 330,327 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen started coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $143.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $116.32 and a twelve month high of $149.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $141.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.13. The company has a market cap of $48.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.39.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were 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 owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark 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 sale, the insider now 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.