Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 4,124 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC cut its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,840 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,124 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE KMB opened at $138.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $138.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.13. The company has a market capitalization of $46.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $117.67 and a 52 week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.