Slocum Gordon & Co LLP Has $2.72 Million Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Slocum Gordon & Co LLP lowered its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,789 shares of the company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Kimberly-Clark comprises about 2.2% of Slocum Gordon & Co LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,267,000 after buying an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,409,000 after buying an additional 21,339 shares during the period. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $128.65 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $130.40 and a 200-day moving average of $136.84. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30. The stock has a market cap of $42.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm 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 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

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.