Avior Wealth Management LLC Sells 343 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Avior Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,258 shares of the company’s stock after selling 343 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connors Investor Services Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 4,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. HSBC upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $123.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $126.83 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.35. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $116.32 and a 1 year high of $147.87. The company has a market capitalization of $42.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.40. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

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