Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) VP Andrew Drexler Sells 2,500 Shares

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) 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 owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.5 %

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $139.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $46.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $130.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.47. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $120.49 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 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, sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on KMB. Citigroup decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,603,787 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,589,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,387,709,000 after buying an additional 529,223 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,473,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,113,444,000 after buying an additional 797,953 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,529,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $986,616,000 after buying an additional 417,118 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.