AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Takes $739,000 Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $739,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on KMB shares. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.50.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $140.55 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.09. The company has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $123.84 and a one year high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.