Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Evanson Asset Management LLC

Evanson Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,819 shares of the company’s stock after selling 584 shares during the quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $4,253,000. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 240,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,103,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $1,661,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,740,000 after acquiring an additional 368,505 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $2.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $129.33. 3,204,117 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,129,380. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $147.87. The company has a market cap of $43.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $122.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.99.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. 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 is presently 93.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. HSBC upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.27.

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.