Kestra Investment Management LLC Purchases 3,493 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 86.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,514 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 61,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,178,000 after acquiring an additional 7,363 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 292,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,386,000 after buying an additional 4,688 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 106,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,949,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of KMB opened at $135.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.49. 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 1 year low of $118.62 and a 1 year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 64.64%.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.