HM Payson & Co. Has $1.40 Million Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

HM Payson & Co. lowered its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,681 shares of the company’s stock after selling 960 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 416,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,248,000 after purchasing an additional 24,383 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 143.2% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 6,277 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 135.9% during the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 242,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,543,000 after purchasing an additional 139,844 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 9,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $515,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $144.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.52. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $123.02 and a one year high of $149.31.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.75%.

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.