Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 417,118 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,529,108 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 417,118 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 2.26% of Kimberly-Clark worth $986,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KMB. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,267,000 after acquiring an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth approximately $212,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.4% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 12,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,920 shares of the company's stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $131.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,626,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,128,574. The firm has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $124.10 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.50.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.08.

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.