Brown Advisory Inc. Raises Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 625,481 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,422 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 0.19% of Kimberly-Clark worth $81,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted 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 valued at $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% in 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. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total value of $234,547.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $405,032.52. This trade represents a 36.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the 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 $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,872 shares of company stock valued at $2,208,684 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on KMB. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $130.38 on Monday. 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's 50-day moving average price is $138.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.97. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $124.10 and a 52-week high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $43.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KMB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.