Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Position Boosted by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 270,938 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $35,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the third quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.7% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $130.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.84. 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 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

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.