Brighton Jones LLC Boosts Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 74.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,494 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,765 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,431,443,000 after purchasing an additional 358,926 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,388,000 after buying an additional 206,671 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after buying an additional 464,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,900,000 after acquiring an additional 20,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on 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, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.71.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $128.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $131.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

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.