GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Sells 256 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,474 shares of the company’s stock after selling 256 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted 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 valued at $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $129.93 on Monday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $117.67 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $131.20 and its 200 day moving average is $137.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 64.64%.

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.