Hoey Investments Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,605,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,603,787 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,589,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,387,709,000 after purchasing an additional 529,223 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,388,000 after purchasing an additional 206,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $582,592,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KMB. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock opened at $140.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $136.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.92. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $123.84 and a one year high of $150.45. The company has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. 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 currently 66.75%.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.