Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Purchased by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 90.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,401 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,408 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in 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. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 13,720.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 641,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,659,000 after buying an additional 636,882 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,539,000 after buying an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after buying an additional 464,615 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% in the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,278,000 after acquiring an additional 386,510 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lowered shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $175.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.57.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB opened at $125.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $132.94 and a 200-day moving average of $138.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $117.67 and a 1-year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

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.