Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 9,052 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 5.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 149,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,052 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $18,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 74.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth $436,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth $2,207,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $110.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.00.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:KMB opened at $100.04 on Thursday. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 12 month low of $96.26 and a 12 month high of $147.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $103.43 and its 200 day moving average is $110.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.24.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 170.48% and a net margin of 11.73%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.28 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 84.35%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.29, for a total value of $317,980.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.