Meritage Portfolio Management Has $4.21 Million Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,097 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,287 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Citigroup cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:KMB opened at $129.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $130.82 and its 200 day moving average is $136.95. 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 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 64.64%.

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.