abrdn plc Sells 18,904 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

abrdn plc cut its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 435,448 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,904 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $56,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.7% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $129.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $131.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.06. 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 stock has a market cap of $43.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current 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 represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.64%.

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.