Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 19,003 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,154,099 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,003 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.34% of Kimberly-Clark worth $149,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,649 shares in the company, valued at $4,562,467.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 33,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,562,467.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 51,462 shares of company stock worth $7,206,653. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB traded up $0.74 on Friday, reaching $141.81. The stock had a trading volume of 2,064,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,201,267. The company has a market capitalization of $47.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $145.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $137.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.23.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.67.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.