Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Holdings Increased by Global X Japan Co. Ltd.

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,902 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after buying an additional 1,083,824 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,443,000 after purchasing an additional 358,926 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,388,000 after purchasing an additional 206,671 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,900,000 after buying an additional 20,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KMB. UBS Group lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.5 %

KMB opened at $128.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $130.61 and a 200-day moving average of $136.90. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 64.64%.

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.