Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 10,024 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 17.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,542 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,024 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $9,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $138.42 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $138.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.15. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $46.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.40.

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. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

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.