Dark Forest Capital Management LP Increases Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 378.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,232 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,378 shares during the period. Kimberly-Clark comprises 0.4% of Dark Forest Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during 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 buying an additional 529,223 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $1,113,444,000 after acquiring an additional 797,953 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company's stock worth $740,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $582,592,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.6 %

KMB opened at $137.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KMB shares. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 target price (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $146.31.

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.

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