Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Sells 1,866 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. decreased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 48.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,016 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,866 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after buying an additional 4,603,787 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $582,592,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 163.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,142,749 shares of the company's stock worth $280,786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,341 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company's stock worth $740,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,141 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $127,436,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider now directly owns 3,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $405,032.52. The trade was a 36.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,872 shares of company stock valued at $2,208,684. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on KMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded down $1.39 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $139.69. 2,743,777 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,177,555. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $124.10 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $46.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.89.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is 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.