Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 155,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,348,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KMB. State Street Corp increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company's stock worth $2,768,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,589,967 shares of the company's stock worth $1,387,709,000 after acquiring an additional 529,223 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company's stock worth $1,092,388,000 after acquiring an additional 206,671 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,040,747 shares of the company's stock worth $398,459,000 after acquiring an additional 30,312 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company's stock worth $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded down $0.46 on Tuesday, hitting $139.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,661,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,018,443. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $133.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.38. The company has a market capitalization of $46.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.02 and a twelve month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. This is a boost 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 is presently 66.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KMB. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.