LPL Financial LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 624,953 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,914 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.19% of Kimberly-Clark worth $81,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of KMB opened at $136.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $135.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $123.84 and a 12-month high of $150.45.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

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.