Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Bought by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,806 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $341,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 204.0% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after buying an additional 13,806 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,253,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,661,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,740,000 after purchasing an additional 368,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $1.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $126.83. 4,795,826 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,016,785. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $147.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $124.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $1.22 dividend. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 93.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the purchase, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.85.

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.