Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 36,299 shares of the company’s stock after selling 375 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $5,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America raised Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $144.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $48.57 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.69. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. 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.