Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Position Lowered by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB decreased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,619 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,523 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned about 0.05% of Kimberly-Clark worth $22,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 47,574 shares of the company's stock worth $6,575,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth $248,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 53.9% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 63,561 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,784,000 after buying an additional 22,272 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,513,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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 Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $130.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.31. The company has a market capitalization of $43.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.64%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.