BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Purchases 147,983 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 204.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 220,466 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 147,983 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned 0.07% of Kimberly-Clark worth $28,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen downgraded 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $146.57.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB traded down $4.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $133.61. The stock had a trading volume of 4,582,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,148,010. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, 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 company's fifty day moving average is $139.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.69. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. On average, 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

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.