Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $5.69 Million Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 43,411 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $5,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 121,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,964,000 after buying an additional 1,363 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 415,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,457,000 after buying an additional 68,306 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 270,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,504,000 after acquiring an additional 17,350 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE KMB opened at $130.29 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $130.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.84. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

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