Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,349 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,115 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $8,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 11,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $139.98 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $124.10 and a 12-month high of $150.45. The stock has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.67.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.31.

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.