Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. decreased its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 212,481 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,061 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Kimberly-Clark worth $28,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,506,000 after acquiring an additional 576,610 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% in the 4th 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 position in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lifted 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 valued at $94,278,000 after acquiring 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 Up 1.9 %

Shares of KMB traded up $2.51 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $135.18. 709,268 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,109,746. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.49. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $118.62 and a 52 week high of $149.30. The company has a market cap of $45.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is 64.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

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.