ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 211 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,806 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at $34,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Centerpoint Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 175.0% in the third quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE KMB traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $126.83. The company had a trading volume of 4,795,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,016,785. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $124.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.33. The stock has a market cap of $42.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $147.87.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on KMB shares. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.85.

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.