Perennial Advisors LLC Sells 100 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Perennial Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $219,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 175.0% in the third quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KMB. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $123.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut Kimberly-Clark from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.86.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE KMB traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $126.11. The company had a trading volume of 662,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,098,154. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $123.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $147.87. The stock has a market cap of $42.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.85%.

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.