GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. Takes $399,000 Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 204.0% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after buying an additional 13,806 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,253,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,661,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,740,000 after purchasing an additional 368,505 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on KMB. HSBC upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total value of $61,398.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,324.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,562 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,345. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $136.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $146.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $127.48 and a 200-day moving average of $123.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.71%.

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.