Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 302 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,472 shares of the company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at about $466,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 269,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,180,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 13,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,198,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 29.6% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,442,000 after purchasing an additional 10,655 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. Argus raised shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $143.20 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $48.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

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

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.