Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Takes Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 22,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake 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 worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 21,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company's stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on KMB. Citigroup cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB traded down $2.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $132.79. 1,976,447 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,233,356. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.93 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.52.

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 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. 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 64.64%.

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.