Simplify Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 18,952 Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 18,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,696,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 40.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,686,000 after purchasing an additional 15,482 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.5% during the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. ING Groep NV lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 73,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,389,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of KMB traded up $2.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $133.80. The company had a trading volume of 485,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,097,990. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $117.67 and a 1 year high of $149.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.13.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

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 issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.93.

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.