Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC decreased its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 316 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,605,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,603,787 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,387,709,000 after buying an additional 529,223 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,388,000 after buying an additional 206,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $582,592,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of KMB opened at $143.13 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $123.84 and a one year high of $150.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $136.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.92. 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 company has a market capitalization of $47.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.