Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 4,994 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 44.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,354 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,994 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 96.6% in the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 285 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total value of $401,310.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total transaction of $152,162.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,233.08. The trade was a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,096 shares of company stock valued at $689,687. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on KMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.14.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock opened at $112.41 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $102.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.42 and a 12-month high of $137.46.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 152.79% and a net margin of 12.80%.The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $1.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 80.38%.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.