Bayesian Capital Management LP Takes Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 31,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,064,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after buying an additional 4,603,787 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $582,592,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 163.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,142,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,341 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $127,436,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total transaction of $234,547.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,032.52. The trade was a 36.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,872 shares of company stock valued at $2,208,684. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $130.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $138.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $43.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 is presently 68.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.08.

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.