QRG Capital Management Inc. Grows Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 86.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,589 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,084 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $13,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,428,000 after purchasing an additional 33,623 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $140.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $131.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.50. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $120.53 and a one year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. 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 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

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.