Centiva Capital LP Purchases 1,306 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Centiva Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,390 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,306 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total transaction of $95,978.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $518,410.90. This trade represents a 15.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,872 shares of company stock worth $2,208,684. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KMB. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $133.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $138.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.77. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The company has a market capitalization of $44.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.66%.

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.