Thompson Investment Management Inc. Purchases 1,498 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,737 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $5,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,628,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,307,025,000 after buying an additional 1,643,311 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,095,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,152,000 after buying an additional 715,624 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,465,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,180,000 after buying an additional 108,050 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,270,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $707,375,000 after buying an additional 145,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,819,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $654,181,000 after buying an additional 613,295 shares in the last quarter. 74.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on KMB. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sandra R. Karrmann sold 5,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.80, for a total transaction of $664,835.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $808,394.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 4,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.23, for a total transaction of $576,007.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,668,448.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sandra R. Karrmann sold 5,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.80, for a total transaction of $664,835.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $808,394.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.7 %

KMB traded down $0.87 on Friday, reaching $125.01. 2,274,341 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,693,748. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $108.74 and a one year high of $147.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.76. The company has a market cap of $42.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.21.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.17. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 303.40%. The business had revenue of $5.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be issued a $1.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $4.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.32%.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products worldwide. 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.