Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lowered its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,368 shares of the company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $966,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 7,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $989,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 392.4% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 17,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,302,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.3 %

KMB opened at $142.00 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $47.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $131.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.48. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $122.98 and a 12 month high of $149.31.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued 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 yield of 3.55%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $357,420. The trade was a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Two investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.