Bollard Group LLC Acquires 10,270 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Bollard Group LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 112.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,404 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,270 shares during the quarter. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ally Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,009,000. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 54,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,462,000 after acquiring an additional 10,811 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas now owns 61,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,234,000 after acquiring an additional 14,115 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,839,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,934,000 after buying an additional 2,628,206 shares during the period. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,047,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. Bank of America cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $101.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.93.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total value of $401,310.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total value of $152,162.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at $797,233.08. This trade represents a 16.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 7,096 shares of company stock worth $689,687 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB stock opened at $109.70 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 1-year low of $92.42 and a 1-year high of $137.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $104.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.99. The company has a market capitalization of $36.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 152.79%. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 80.38%.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.