Morningstar Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,237 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 221 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after buying an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,506,000 after purchasing an additional 576,610 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,284,000 after purchasing an additional 551,158 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during 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, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% during the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,278,000 after purchasing an additional 386,510 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $137.85 on Thursday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $118.62 and a one year high of $149.30. 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 stock has a market cap of $45.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.