Focus Financial Network Inc. Cuts Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Focus Financial Network Inc. decreased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,184 shares of the company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 42,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,608,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 31,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519 shares during the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 131.5% in the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 3,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,114,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 30,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after acquiring an additional 4,997 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased 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 note on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $135.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. 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 price of $129.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.58.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 64.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.