AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Acquires 160,279 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 644.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,163 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 160,279 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned about 0.06% of Kimberly-Clark worth $24,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KMB. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.64.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB traded up $2.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $137.85. 1,845,174 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,166,302. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $129.89 and its 200-day moving average is $136.45. The stock has a market cap of $45.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 64.64%.

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.