Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. Buys Shares of 1,611 Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,267,000 after buying an additional 273,813 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,428,000 after acquiring an additional 33,623 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.85.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $140.73 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $136.12 and its 200 day moving average is $136.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.84 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The company has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G 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 return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

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.