Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 316 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $823,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 572,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,450,000 after acquiring an additional 17,919 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth $5,616,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 738.6% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 79,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,280,000 after purchasing an additional 69,809 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 9,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KMB shares. 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock opened at $143.13 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $47.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.92. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.75%.

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.