Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Trims Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd trimmed its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 32,743 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,071 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. My Legacy Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the third quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on KMB. Barclays raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.93.

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 on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:KMB opened at $139.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.60 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $138.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

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.