Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 26,336 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC cut its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 24.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 80,313 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,336 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $10,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted 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 lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock worth $239,267,000 after acquiring an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $130.99. 583,307 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,999,962. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $131.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on KMB. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus 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.