18,952 Shares in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Acquired by Simplify Asset Management Inc.

Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 18,952 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,696,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company's stock valued at $762,279,000 after buying an additional 944,920 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $293,559,000 after purchasing an additional 342,790 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company's stock worth $213,539,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360,883 shares of the company's stock worth $188,040,000 after acquiring an additional 330,327 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $2.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $134.08. The stock had a trading volume of 3,197,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,110,211. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $139.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.13. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $117.67 and a 12-month high of $149.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The firm has a market cap of $44.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KMB. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $149.93.

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.