Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 576 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,575 shares of the company’s stock after selling 576 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Certuity LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $482,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $133.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.60. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $44.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

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.