Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB – Get Rating) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 267,776 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,402 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $30,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at about $96,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,483,000 after purchasing an additional 34,646 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.9% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 4,503 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 16.1% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 46,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,683,000 after purchasing an additional 6,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. They set a “sell” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.00.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $123.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $41.73 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.39. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $108.74 and a 12 month high of $144.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.83, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.62.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.59% and a return on equity of 264.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $1.18 dividend. This represents a $4.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 82.52%.

About Kimberly-Clark

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Kimberly-Clark Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of products made from natural or synthetic fibers. It operates through the following segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swim pants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, and other related products.