Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Holdings Decreased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV cut its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 85.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 162,209 shares of the company’s stock after selling 969,823 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $21,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 72.5% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 74,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,255,000 after buying an additional 4,661 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 43,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,955,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 47,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,575,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.71.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.5 %

KMB opened at $129.49 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $117.67 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $131.75 and a 200-day moving average of $137.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

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.