Bailard Inc. Purchases 441 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Bailard Inc. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,355 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 204.0% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after buying an additional 13,806 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,253,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,661,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,740,000 after buying an additional 368,505 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $135.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.81. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $147.09. The firm has a market cap of $45.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $125.86 and its 200 day moving average is $122.87.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.85.

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.