Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 28,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,055,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,339 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at approximately $14,751,000. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 166,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,956,000 after acquiring an additional 6,392 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 84.6% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 25,927 shares of the company's stock worth $3,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,882 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,608,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $149.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.0 %

KMB traded up $1.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $138.17. 2,200,799 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,109,021. The stock has a market cap of $46.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $138.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.33. 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 posted 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. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. Kimberly-Clark's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.