Flputnam Investment Management Co. Reduces Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. decreased its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 98.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,612 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,358,044 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Blueprint LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth about $286,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 7,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 31.0% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.9% during the third quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 5,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 10.1% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 31,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,538,000 after buying an additional 2,905 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.3 %

KMB opened at $142.00 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $122.98 and a 12-month high of $149.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $131.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.51.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. As a group, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

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.