Norden Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Norden Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,843 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC increased 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 worth $4,428,000 after purchasing an additional 33,623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock opened at $142.00 on Monday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $122.98 and a 52-week high of $149.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a market cap of $47.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $131.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.48.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

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.