Elevate Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Elevate Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 8,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,443,000 after buying an additional 358,926 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,388,000 after buying an additional 206,671 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 464,615 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,900,000 after acquiring an additional 20,953 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark 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 directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $130.29 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.75. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $117.67 and a twelve month high of $149.30. The company has a market capitalization of $43.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. 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 (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. 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 3.87%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 64.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.