Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC Acquires 1,716 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,354 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,716 shares during the period. Kimberly-Clark comprises about 2.1% of Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $16,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of 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. Barclays cut their target price on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock opened at $138.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.84 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The firm has a market cap of $45.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $134.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.18.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.