Sowell Financial Services LLC Takes $588,000 Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of 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, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 36.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $128.29. The stock had a trading volume of 5,306,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,196,615. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $136.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $124.10 and a 1-year high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS 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 last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

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.