J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,855 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,653 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth approximately $96,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,483,000 after buying an additional 34,646 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 292,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,066,000 after buying an additional 7,878 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 23.9% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 28.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 4,503 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KMB. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $126.83 on Monday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $147.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. 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 is currently 93.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

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.