Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC reduced its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,583 shares of the company’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 175.0% during the third quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KMB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $123.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.85.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 5.6 %

NYSE KMB opened at $136.10 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.43. The stock has a market cap of $45.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $147.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.85%.

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.