Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Raises Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 69.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,039 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,834 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock worth $4,605,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,603,787 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $582,592,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 163.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $127,436,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of KMB traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $131.58. 2,626,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,128,574. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The stock has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut 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. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Friday, March 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.