MML Investors Services LLC Sells 2,655 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

MML Investors Services LLC trimmed its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,072 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,655 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $5,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 6,016 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the third 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. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,428,000 after purchasing an additional 33,623 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded down $0.76 on Friday, reaching $131.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,626,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,128,574. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $124.10 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The business's 50-day moving average price is $139.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on KMB. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.08.

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.