Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,224 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,612 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $22,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after buying an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,589,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,387,709,000 after acquiring an additional 529,223 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,388,000 after purchasing an additional 206,671 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,040,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,459,000 after purchasing an additional 30,312 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after purchasing an additional 464,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.2 %

KMB stock opened at $139.79 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.50. The company has a market capitalization of $46.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.02 and a twelve month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, equities research 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 disclosed 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 is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 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.