Strong Tower Advisory Services Acquires 440 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,100 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 123,302.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,430,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,394,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,568 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $441,478,000. Imprint Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 13,781.2% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,763,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,743,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,102,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,017,895,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,765 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock opened at $129.33 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $116.32 and a 1 year high of $147.87. The company has a market cap of $43.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.49 and a 200 day moving average of $121.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. HSBC raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $123.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.27.

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.