Davis R M Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Davis R M Inc. cut its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,845 shares of the company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $515,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 85.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 6,847 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth approximately $103,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KMB shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE KMB opened at $144.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.02 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $132.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.48.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.