Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Stake Reduced by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 52.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 198,346 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $24,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $139.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $46.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $135.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.06.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by 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.