Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys Shares of 434 Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $141.79 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $131.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.52. 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 $123.02 and a 12-month high of $149.31. The company has a market cap of $47.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

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.