FIL Ltd Has $565,000 Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 78.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,313 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 25,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,373,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 35.5% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the company's stock worth $1,290,000 after buying an additional 2,579 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,015,141 shares in the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $272,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 214,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $2.98 on Friday, hitting $142.68. The company had a trading volume of 2,108,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,143,310. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, 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. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $139.34 and a 200-day moving average of $135.75.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $146.31.

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.