Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 16,898 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 64.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,170 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,898 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 186.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,408,000 after acquiring an additional 28,335 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 591,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,234,000 after purchasing an additional 19,298 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,439,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,448,000 after purchasing an additional 58,978 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5,751.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 94,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,146,000 after buying an additional 92,601 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 100.0% in the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 38,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,932,000 after buying an additional 19,130 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. BNP Paribas reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Barclays set a $132.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $120.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.00.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KMB opened at $100.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.31 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.79. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a one year low of $96.26 and a one year high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.41, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.37. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 183.11% and a net margin of 10.89%.The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.28%.

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.