Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 1,113 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 33,136 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,113 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,339 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth about $14,751,000. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 166,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,956,000 after acquiring an additional 6,392 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 84.6% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 25,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,583,000 after purchasing an additional 11,882 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,608,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $139.20 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $138.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.21. The firm has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $117.67 and a 1 year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.