Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Grows Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,637 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth $39,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KMB shares. 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 note on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $128.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.90. The company has a market cap of $42.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 64.64%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.