Legal & General Group Plc Sells 667,235 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 21.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,416,946 shares of the company’s stock after selling 667,235 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $316,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.0 %

KMB stock opened at $133.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $137.85 and its 200 day moving average is $135.80. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.84 and a 12 month high of $150.45. 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 (NYSE:KMB) last announced its 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on KMB shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.