Corebridge Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Corebridge Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 112,043 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,373 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $14,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,603,787 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $127,436,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,506,000 after purchasing an additional 576,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,284,000 after purchasing an additional 551,158 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $136.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $123.84 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $45.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $135.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.04.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on KMB. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

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.