Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC trimmed its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 39.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,795 shares of the company's stock after selling 61,765 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $12,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $582,592,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $127,436,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,473,459 shares of the company's stock worth $1,113,444,000 after buying an additional 797,953 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 target price (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.85.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:KMB traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $136.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 774,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,144,525. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $138.05 and a 200-day moving average of $135.76. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $123.84 and a 1 year high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. 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. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

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.