Raymond James Trust N.A. Trims Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Raymond James Trust N.A. cut its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,034 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,242 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,409,000 after buying an additional 21,339 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at approximately $14,751,000. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 166,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,956,000 after purchasing an additional 6,392 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 84.6% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 25,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,583,000 after buying an additional 11,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,608,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on KMB shares. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus raised shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $138.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $117.67 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.13.

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

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

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.