Wills Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 48,176 Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Wills Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 48,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,860,000. Kimberly-Clark accounts for about 1.9% of Wills Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,846,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,121,027,000 after purchasing an additional 315,981 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,830,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,615,382,000 after purchasing an additional 997,397 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,322,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $836,216,000 after purchasing an additional 65,619 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,839,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628,206 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $521,184,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KMB. Barclays dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.93.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KMB opened at $100.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $33.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.28. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 1 year low of $92.42 and a 1 year high of $137.46.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 152.79% and a net margin of 12.80%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $401,310.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total value of $152,162.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,233.08. The trade was a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,096 shares of company stock valued at $689,687. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.