Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Lowers Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 97.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,661 shares of the company's stock after selling 673,823 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after buying an additional 4,603,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,589,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,387,709,000 after purchasing an additional 529,223 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company's stock worth $1,092,388,000 after purchasing an additional 206,671 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $582,592,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,040,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $398,459,000 after purchasing an additional 30,312 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.38.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $142.64. The stock had a trading volume of 309,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,139,966. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.68. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $124.10 and a 52-week high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

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.