Bridgewater Associates LP Reduces Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 52.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 234,847 shares of the company’s stock after selling 257,529 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned 0.07% of Kimberly-Clark worth $33,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $139.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $138.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $46.60 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark 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.