Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Buys 70,000 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 306.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,814 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $12,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $437,420,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after buying an additional 944,920 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,926,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,114,000 after acquiring an additional 370,094 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 277.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 472,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,466,000 after acquiring an additional 347,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 32.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,040,000 after acquiring an additional 330,327 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $143.52 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KMB. Bank of America raised Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.