Latitude Advisors LLC Trims Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Latitude Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,773 shares of the company’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the third quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.7% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $131.44 on Tuesday. 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 $43.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $130.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.73.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. 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 (DPR) is currently 64.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.