Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Marietta Investment Partners LLC

Marietta Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,553 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $138.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.84 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $134.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.34.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

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.