KBC Group NV Lowers Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

KBC Group NV decreased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 14.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,132,032 shares of the company's stock after selling 188,623 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.34% of Kimberly-Clark worth $161,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. D Orazio & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Arjuna Capital boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 44.4% during the third quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 21,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,991,000 after buying an additional 6,466 shares during the last quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,656 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,650,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $356,000. Finally, Haverford Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 24,733 shares of the company's stock worth $3,519,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Kimberly-Clark to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded up $0.26 on Thursday, hitting $132.45. 772,438 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,101,795. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $140.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.18. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $44.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.