Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 10,276 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 590,337 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,276 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $77,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 11,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,559,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KMB shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 5.1 %

NYSE:KMB opened at $137.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $137.64 and a 200 day moving average of $135.95. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $123.84 and a 52 week high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.26 dividend. 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 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.75%.

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 in the company, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.