Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 91,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,974 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $12,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,267,000 after buying an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,428,000 after buying an additional 33,623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:KMB opened at $142.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $136.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $123.84 and a 52 week high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (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, research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.85.

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.