Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Sells 1,776 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,127 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,776 shares during the quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $5,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on KMB shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.85.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $135.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $44.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $138.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.76. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

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.