Stephens Inc. AR Grows Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 45,896 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $6,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,409,000 after buying an additional 21,339 shares during the period. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $131.44 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $130.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.73. The company has a market capitalization of $43.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $117.67 and a 1 year high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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, analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on KMB. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

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.