S&CO Inc. Sells 1,535 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

S&CO Inc. cut its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,325 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,535 shares during the period. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB opened at $147.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $132.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.48. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $123.02 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The stock has a market cap of $48.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

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.