Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 242,715 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,138 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.07% of Kimberly-Clark worth $31,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the company's stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the company's stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,637 shares of the company's stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the company's stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on KMB shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. TD Cowen downgraded 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,716,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,016,483. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $134.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.34. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.02 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The stock has a market cap of $46.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.