Abbrea Capital LLC Cuts Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Abbrea Capital LLC lessened its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,714 shares of the company’s stock after selling 645 shares during the quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $142.38 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.18.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the company’s 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 owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the company’s 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 owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on KMB. TD Cowen began coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.67.

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.