D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $10.97 Million Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,717 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,513 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $10,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 106,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,949,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $95,000. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KMB. Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE KMB opened at $135.66 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $118.62 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $129.84 and a 200-day moving average of $136.49. The company has a market cap of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 64.64%.

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.