Gallacher Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Gallacher Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,129 shares of the company’s stock after selling 398 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $359,000. one8zero8 LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $1,028,000. Choate Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 233.7% during the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 5,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $702,000 after buying an additional 3,754 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Strum & Towne Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE KMB opened at $139.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $123.02 and a 52-week high of $150.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $133.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. 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. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.