Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,015 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,292 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on KMB. Bank of America upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total value of $866,420.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,649 shares in the company, valued at $4,562,467.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,395 shares of company stock worth $3,332,776 in the last quarter. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.8 %

Kimberly-Clark stock traded down $1.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $138.20. 4,428,326 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,077,578. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. The firm has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.49. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $142.20.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

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.