Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC cut its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,061 shares of the company’s stock after selling 431 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 213,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14,617 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.0% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 171,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,350,000 after purchasing an additional 5,034 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 6,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 57,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,182,000 after purchasing an additional 10,890 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $137.76 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.84 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $135.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.11. The firm has a market cap of $45.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.