Marietta Investment Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Marietta Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,553 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. The trade was a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KMB. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $138.31 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

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.