Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $4.97 Million Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,941 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 454,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,738,000 after acquiring an additional 69,794 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 506.8% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after buying an additional 10,820 shares in the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,081,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $1,094,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $11,994,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $144.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $140.70 and a 200-day moving average of $133.51. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $116.32 and a 1 year high of $145.68.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

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.