Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 3,291 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Essex Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 46.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,841 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,291 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 204.0% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after buying an additional 13,806 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,253,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,661,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,740,000 after buying an additional 368,505 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total value of $866,420.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,562,467.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,101,891.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total transaction of $866,420.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,562,467.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,562 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,345 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $136.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. The firm has a market cap of $45.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.38. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $116.32 and a twelve month high of $146.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $127.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.33.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark 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.