Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,493 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,684 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.71.

Insider Activity

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 value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:KMB opened at $127.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $132.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $117.67 and a 52 week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.