S&CO Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

S&CO Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,325 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,535 shares during the quarter. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 37,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,900,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Morton Community Bank raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 21,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,855,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 27,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,553,000 after acquiring an additional 4,279 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 59,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,008,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark 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 value of $350,000.00. Following 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.7 %

KMB opened at $147.30 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $48.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $132.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.48. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.02 and a 12 month high of $150.45.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

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.