Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Holdings Decreased by Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA decreased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,362 shares of the company’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KMB. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,189,000 after buying an additional 1,046,155 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,815,000 after purchasing an additional 641,187 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 31.4% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,197,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,530,000 after purchasing an additional 524,632 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 552.4% in the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 456,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,163,000 after purchasing an additional 386,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,740,000 after purchasing an additional 368,505 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB traded up $6.93 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $135.86. 3,548,836 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,175,765. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $147.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $124.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.43.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 93.85%.

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.