J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Sells 972 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,705 shares of the company’s stock after selling 972 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KMB. Bank of America upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. TD Cowen began coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Kimberly-Clark 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.8 %

KMB opened at $143.52 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $48.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $142.18 and a 200-day moving average of $135.53. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

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.