Advocate Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Advocate Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,694 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,713 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $7,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $128.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The stock has a market cap of $42.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $117.67 and a 52 week high of $149.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $131.85 and a 200-day moving average of $137.60.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $175.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.71.

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.