20,162 Shares in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Purchased by LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 20,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,642,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $142.00 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $131.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $47.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $122.98 and a fifty-two week high of $149.31.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.