Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Purchases 52,195 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 243.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,639 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,195 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $8,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 175.0% during the 3rd quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE KMB traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $136.10. 1,907,297 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,226,598. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $146.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $127.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.33. The firm has a market cap of $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 8,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,562 shares of company stock worth $2,808,345 over the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.