Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 116,554 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,285,180 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 116,554 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.69% of Kimberly-Clark worth $299,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock worth $4,605,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,603,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,387,709,000 after purchasing an additional 529,223 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,473,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,113,444,000 after purchasing an additional 797,953 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $740,868,000 after buying an additional 1,015,141 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $582,592,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.58. 2,626,982 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,128,555. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $124.10 and a one year high of $150.45. 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 50 day moving average is $139.62 and its 200 day moving average is $135.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.08.

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.