Clark & Stuart Inc Takes Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 34,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,562,000. Kimberly-Clark makes up about 3.3% of Clark & Stuart Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KMB. Pensionfund Sabic raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,267,000 after acquiring an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,409,000 after acquiring an additional 21,339 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,428,000 after acquiring an additional 33,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after purchasing an additional 464,615 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.7 %

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $124.56 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $117.67 and a 12-month high of $149.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $133.11 and a 200 day moving average of $138.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

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