Zhang Financial LLC Purchases 237 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,012 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,191,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $869,090,000 after acquiring an additional 177,712 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,465,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $866,180,000 after acquiring an additional 108,050 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,815,000 after acquiring an additional 641,187 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,345,000 after acquiring an additional 212,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 123,302.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,430,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,394,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $126.83 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $124.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.33. The company has a market capitalization of $42.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.85.

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.