Natural Investments LLC Buys New Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in 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 holdings 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 buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,267,000 after acquiring an additional 273,813 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company's stock worth $4,428,000 after acquiring an additional 33,623 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.64.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $139.88 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $133.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

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.

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