EP Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 4,028 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 24.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,812 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,028 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KMB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of 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 reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE KMB traded down $1.80 on Monday, hitting $132.93. 3,423,843 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,114,987. The company's 50 day moving average price is $137.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.42. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $44.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $117.67 and a twelve month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. Analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.