Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Stock Position Raised by S.A. Mason LLC

S.A. Mason LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,259 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after buying an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,431,443,000 after acquiring an additional 358,926 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,388,000 after purchasing an additional 206,671 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after purchasing an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,900,000 after purchasing an additional 20,953 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $129.93 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $117.67 and a twelve month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. 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 3.88%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.64%.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.