Global Retirement Partners LLC Trims Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Global Retirement Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,815 shares of the company’s stock after selling 381 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,506,000 after acquiring an additional 576,610 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,284,000 after acquiring an additional 551,158 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,278,000 after purchasing an additional 386,510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $140.28 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $118.62 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The company has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.48.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors 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 yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 64.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

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.