Everett Harris & Co. CA Lowers Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Everett Harris & Co. CA lowered its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,039 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,483,000 after buying an additional 34,646 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 292,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,066,000 after buying an additional 7,878 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 4,503 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock traded up $2.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $129.33. The stock had a trading volume of 3,204,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,129,380. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $147.87. The company has a market cap of $43.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KMB shares. Bank of America cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.