Sarasin & Partners LLP Purchases 576,610 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 140.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 988,294 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 576,610 shares during the period. Kimberly-Clark comprises about 1.4% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $129,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. LVW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 9,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,190,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $749,000. Ballast Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 9,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, My Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $127.33 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $132.41 and a 200 day moving average of $137.98. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The company has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $175.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.71.

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.