Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp cut its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 13.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,760 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,798 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $10,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted 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 raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $213,539,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company's stock worth $94,278,000 after acquiring an additional 386,510 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE KMB traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $131.34. 1,621,589 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,113,666. The company has a market capitalization of $43.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors 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 yield of 3.72%. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

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 shares were 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 directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by 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.