Abbot Financial Management Inc. Cuts Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Abbot Financial Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on KMB shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.5 %

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $141.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $46.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $122.99 and a 12 month high of $149.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. 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 payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.