Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 283 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Ballentine Partners LLC cut its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,027 shares of the company’s stock after selling 283 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $249,000. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 3,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 2,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 14,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.71.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of KMB stock opened at $127.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $132.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.98. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

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.