MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 3,783 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,827 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $13,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KMB. Annapolis Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth $28,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth $29,000. Barrett & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1,333.3% during the second quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 215 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Horizons Wealth Management acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 74.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Zackery A. Hicks sold 3,020 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.43, for a total transaction of $360,678.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Zackery A. Hicks sold 3,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.43, for a total value of $360,678.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sandra R. Karrmann sold 5,122 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 6,228 shares in the company, valued at $808,394.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $120.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.84. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $147.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.72.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.16 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 292.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $1.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 7th. This represents a $4.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 90.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KMB. HSBC began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $118.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $147.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $122.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.93.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

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.