MQS Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,504 Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,409,000 after acquiring an additional 21,339 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth about $14,751,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 166,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,956,000 after purchasing an additional 6,392 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 84.6% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 25,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,583,000 after buying an additional 11,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 107.8% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 12,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after buying an additional 6,293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of KMB stock opened at $131.68 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $117.67 and a 1 year high of $149.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $140.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.