Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 151,857 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,761 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $18,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 175.0% during the 3rd quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KMB. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $123.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Three investment 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, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.85.

Insider Activity

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

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of KMB stock opened at $125.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.26. 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 (NYSE:KMB) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio 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.