Americana Partners LLC Has $1.94 Million Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Americana Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,838 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,840 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in 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 lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the 3rd 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 increased its position 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 valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% in 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.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $132.79 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $117.93 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $129.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.53. The company has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KMB shares. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.