Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Position Increased by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,120 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 241.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 38,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,494,000 after acquiring an additional 27,307 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.4% in the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.1% in the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.7% in the third quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 11,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $141.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $46.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.45. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $120.49 and a 52-week high of $149.30. 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 (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 return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share 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. Shareholders 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 3.57%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.75%.

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.