Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Boosts Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,684 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,820 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $14,504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total transaction of $95,978.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. The trade was a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,872 shares of company stock worth $2,208,684. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $130.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50-day moving average is $138.72 and its 200 day moving average is $135.12. 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.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.08.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.