Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,506,000 after purchasing an additional 576,610 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,284,000 after purchasing an additional 551,158 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,625,000 after purchasing an additional 464,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,278,000 after buying an additional 386,510 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $142.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.51. The company has a market capitalization of $47.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $122.98 and a twelve month high of $149.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company 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.