Stevens Capital Management LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Stevens Capital Management LP reduced its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 74.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,233 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,402 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 213,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,321,000 after buying an additional 14,617 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 171,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,350,000 after purchasing an additional 5,034 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 6,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 23.4% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 57,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,182,000 after buying an additional 10,890 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $137.76 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $135.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

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.