Unigestion Holding SA Has $15.46 Million Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Unigestion Holding SA raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 39.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 117,980 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,332 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $15,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,605,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,787 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $582,592,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $127,436,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,473,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,444,000 after acquiring an additional 797,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 576,610 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB opened at $137.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $137.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.95. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $123.84 and a 1 year high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.85.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.