Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 15,334 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 239,534 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,334 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Kimberly-Clark worth $29,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter worth about $96,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,483,000 after acquiring an additional 34,646 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 292,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,066,000 after acquiring an additional 7,878 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 4,503 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on KMB. Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $123.89 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $41.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $123.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.85%.

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.