UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 20,953 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,953 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $385,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,339 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth approximately $14,751,000. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. PGGM Investments raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 84.6% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 25,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,583,000 after purchasing an additional 11,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth approximately $36,608,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $139.20 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $138.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

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.