Everence Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 61.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,380 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KMB. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after buying an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,443,000 after acquiring an additional 358,926 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,388,000 after purchasing an additional 206,671 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,900,000 after purchasing an additional 20,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $129.76 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $117.67 and a 52 week high of $149.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.89. The company has a market capitalization of $43.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

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.