Searle & CO. Buys 351 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Searle & CO. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,577 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 6.7% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.5% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 69,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,459,000 after purchasing an additional 11,900 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 104,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,670,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at about $350,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 391,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,363,000 after buying an additional 71,698 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total transaction of $866,420.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,562,467.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,062 shares of company stock valued at $2,466,270 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $136.47. 2,104,872 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,236,810. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $126.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.14. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $147.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

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.