Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,473,459 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 797,953 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,113,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on KMB. Barclays lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $143.13 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $136.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.84 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. 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 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.