Sierra Ocean LLC Buys Shares of 262 Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $598,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $650,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,911,000 after purchasing an additional 3,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 11,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 2.3 %

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $135.66 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $118.62 and a 52-week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.64%.

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.