DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 2,446 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 59,625 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,446 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $7,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KMB. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,909,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 37,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,926,000 after buying an additional 5,202 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 433,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,834,000 after acquiring an additional 34,249 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 8,322.4% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 9,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 9,654 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE KMB opened at $140.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $136.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.98. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $123.84 and a one year high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. 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. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.85.

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.