Garner Asset Management Corp Cuts Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Garner Asset Management Corp cut its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,824 shares of the company’s stock after selling 758 shares during the quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.0% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 12,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 17.2% in the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 19.3% during the first quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 28,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,715,000 after acquiring an additional 4,650 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 11.8% during the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 12,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.2% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 18,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,241,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $138.42 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $117.67 and a 52 week high of $149.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $138.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.15.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

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.