Forte Capital LLC ADV Sells 290 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Forte Capital LLC ADV cut its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,785 shares of the company’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,443,000 after acquiring an additional 358,926 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,388,000 after acquiring an additional 206,671 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,900,000 after acquiring an additional 20,953 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $138.85 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $118.62 and a twelve month high of $149.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $130.03 and its 200 day moving average is $136.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The company has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KMB. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. 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. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

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.