12,274 Shares in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,608,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on KMB shares. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $138.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $134.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.26. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $123.84 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $45.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

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 the consensus estimate 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 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.