Brighton Jones LLC Sells 2,786 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Brighton Jones LLC lowered its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 42.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,729 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,786 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 454,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,738,000 after buying an additional 69,794 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,339 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth about $14,751,000. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 166,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,956,000 after purchasing an additional 6,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PGGM Investments boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 84.6% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 25,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,583,000 after purchasing an additional 11,882 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $135.52 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.65. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.63 and a one year high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $45.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.