Man Group plc Sells 170,871 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Man Group plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 634,703 shares of the company's stock after selling 170,871 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.19% of Kimberly-Clark worth $83,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE KMB traded up $1.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $139.33. 2,310,026 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,158,427. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $124.10 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $137.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.75.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.66%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,872 shares of company stock valued at $2,208,684 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.08.

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.