Violich Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Violich Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,625 shares during the period. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KMB. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after buying an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,506,000 after purchasing an additional 576,610 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,284,000 after purchasing an additional 551,158 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after purchasing an additional 464,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,278,000 after acquiring an additional 386,510 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $131.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $117.67 and a 12-month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 64.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen downgraded 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. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.