Proficio Capital Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 99.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,436 shares of the company's stock after selling 153,846 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.9% during the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 277,618 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,483,000 after acquiring an additional 5,101 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at $554,000. Nelson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at $210,000. Lewis Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 5,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 4,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related 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 transaction of $234,547.56. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $405,032.52. This trade represents a 36.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $134.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $140.90.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded down $0.37 on Friday, hitting $127.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,549,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,289,590. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.52. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $124.10 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The company has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is 68.66%.

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.