Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Stock Holdings Lowered by Wakefield Asset Management LLLP

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP cut its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,469 shares of the company’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Kimberly-Clark makes up about 1.2% of Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,431,443,000 after buying an additional 358,926 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,388,000 after buying an additional 206,671 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,040,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,459,000 after acquiring an additional 30,312 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $140.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $120.53 and a 12 month high of $149.30. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.50.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

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.