Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Has $845,000 Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,452 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,506,000 after buying an additional 576,610 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,284,000 after buying an additional 551,158 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,539,000 after buying an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $175.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $127.33 on Monday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $132.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.