Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 62,732 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 52.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 182,006 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,732 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.05% of Kimberly-Clark worth $22,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 175.0% in the third quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total transaction of $142,334.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,833 shares in the company, valued at $524,584.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total transaction of $142,334.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $524,584.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,062 shares of company stock valued at $2,466,270. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $136.47 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $147.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.85.

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.