Vest Financial LLC Buys 68,306 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 415,575 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,306 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $54,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after buying an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 273,813 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,428,000 after purchasing an additional 33,623 shares during 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 stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:KMB opened at $130.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $130.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.84. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

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.