Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Bought by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 159,217 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,867 shares during the period. Kimberly-Clark accounts for about 1.1% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $20,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,605,079,000 after buying an additional 4,603,787 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $582,592,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the third 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $127,436,000. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,506,000 after acquiring an additional 576,610 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of KMB stock opened at $140.55 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $123.84 and a 1-year high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $135.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.09.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.50.

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.