Avanza Fonder AB Makes New Investment in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,284,000 after buying an additional 551,158 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,539,000 after buying an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,625,000 after buying an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,278,000 after acquiring an additional 386,510 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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 equities 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, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.71.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE KMB opened at $127.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $132.41 and its 200 day moving average is $137.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $117.67 and a 1 year high of $149.30.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

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

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.