Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,151 shares of the company’s stock after selling 375 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 454,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,738,000 after buying an additional 69,794 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth about $14,751,000. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 166,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,956,000 after purchasing an additional 6,392 shares during the period. PGGM Investments grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 84.6% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 25,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,583,000 after buying an additional 11,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 10.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 67,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,728,000 after buying an additional 6,458 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $136.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.39. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $116.63 and a 52 week high of $149.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $143.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

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.