Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group Sells 709 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group cut its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,706 shares of the company’s stock after selling 709 shares during the quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 6,847 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter worth about $103,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 818,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,388,000 after acquiring an additional 11,937 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB opened at $139.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $123.02 and a 1-year high of $150.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock 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 objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

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.