Prospera Financial Services Inc Raises Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,209 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after acquiring an additional 944,920 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 13,720.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 641,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,659,000 after purchasing an additional 636,882 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,539,000 after purchasing an additional 503,839 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 32.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,040,000 after buying an additional 330,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $138.42 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $46.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $138.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.13.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

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 $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.93.

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.