Flputnam Investment Management Co. Cuts Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,514 shares of the company’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 204.0% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,500,000 after purchasing an additional 13,806 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,253,000. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 240,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,103,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,661,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KMB. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $123.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.43.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $125.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $123.91 and a 200 day moving average of $122.23. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $147.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 93.85%.

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.