Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 152,423 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. $KMB

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 76.5%, selling 152,423 shares and now holding 46,802 shares worth approximately $6.66 million.
• Kimberly-Clark recently reported earnings per share of $1.92, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.67, but experienced a 1.6% revenue decline year-over-year.
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.26 per share on October 2nd, translating to an annualized yield of 3.8%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 76.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,802 shares of the company's stock after selling 152,423 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $6,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 46.4% during the first quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,770,000 after purchasing an additional 3,944 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 86.8% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 509,585 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,473,000 after buying an additional 236,733 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 127,623 shares of the company's stock worth $18,145,000 after buying an additional 9,643 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 270.2% in the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 984,695 shares of the company's stock worth $140,043,000 after acquiring an additional 718,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 108.6% in the first quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 45,088 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,412,000 after acquiring an additional 23,472 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Kimberly-Clark from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, July 18th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $144.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.70.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock traded up $0.9180 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $133.8880. 601,006 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,312,236. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.11. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $124.10 and a 52-week high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%.Kimberly-Clark's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.42%.

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.