Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,230 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,232 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $13,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 13,720.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 641,524 shares of the company's stock worth $88,659,000 after buying an additional 636,882 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $213,539,000 after purchasing an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,431,443,000 after purchasing an additional 358,926 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company's stock worth $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 32.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360,883 shares of the company's stock worth $188,040,000 after purchasing an additional 330,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $149.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $139.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,466,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,111,100. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $138.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.21. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The stock has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors 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 yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.