HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,224 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,612 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Kimberly-Clark worth $22,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,428,000 after acquiring an additional 33,623 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

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Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.22 on Wednesday, hitting $139.75. 1,716,259 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,016,481. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $134.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $123.02 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $46.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.75%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on KMB. 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays lowered 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. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently 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.