Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Bought by Bristlecone Advisors LLC

Bristlecone Advisors LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 131.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,619 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock worth $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company's stock worth $49,409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company's stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on KMB. Citigroup lowered their target price on 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 lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.64.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded down $2.57 on Friday, hitting $132.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,976,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,159,368. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.93 and a 52-week high of $149.30. 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 stock has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company's 50 day moving average price is $129.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.57.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is 64.64%.

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.