Eastern Bank Acquires 7,416 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Eastern Bank raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 230.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,640 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,416 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after purchasing an additional 944,920 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,559,000 after buying an additional 342,790 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,383,000 after buying an additional 354,501 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,093,000 after buying an additional 48,103 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,539,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.14.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB stock opened at $137.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.63 and a one year high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $46.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.39.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.