Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 2,401 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Wright Investors Service Inc. trimmed its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,401 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.8% in the second quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.8% in the third quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.1% in the first quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 4,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded down $0.61 on Thursday, reaching $125.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 535,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,091,983. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $147.87. The company has a market cap of $42.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 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 business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $1.22 dividend. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.85%.

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.