Independent Advisor Alliance Has $3.55 Million Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,114 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,279 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after buying an additional 1,083,824 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,589,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,387,709,000 after buying an additional 529,223 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,388,000 after buying an additional 206,671 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,040,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,459,000 after buying an additional 30,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,625,000 after buying an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $139.88 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $123.02 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The stock has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $133.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.51.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KMB. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark 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.