Advisors Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,356 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,904 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $6,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,267,000 after acquiring an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,428,000 after purchasing an additional 33,623 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. The trade was 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. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on KMB. Barclays lowered their price objective on 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. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. 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 note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $139.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $123.02 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $46.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $134.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

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.