Sarasin & Partners LLP Boosts Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 140.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 988,294 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 576,610 shares during the period. Kimberly-Clark comprises about 1.4% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned approximately 0.30% of Kimberly-Clark worth $129,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KMB. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth $731,000. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 23.6% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 19,212 shares of the company's stock worth $2,655,000 after acquiring an additional 3,669 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 29,018 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 5,929 shares of the company's stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merriman Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.5 %

KMB traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $127.33. 2,056,622 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,808,543. The firm has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $117.67 and a 12-month high of $149.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $132.41 and a 200 day moving average of $137.98.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark's revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $175.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.71.

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.