Aviva PLC Decreases Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Aviva PLC trimmed its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 310,484 shares of the company’s stock after selling 99,002 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $40,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock opened at $137.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $123.84 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.95.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (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, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.