MONECO Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

MONECO Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,633 shares of the company’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $214,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 transaction of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. The trade was a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB opened at $141.33 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $130.74 and its 200-day moving average is $136.45. The stock has a market cap of $46.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $120.49 and a twelve month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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, analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. 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 yield of 3.57%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 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.