Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Reduces Position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden cut its Kimberly-Clark stake by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,800 shares and ending with 77,796 shares valued at about $7.85 million.
• Other institutional investors have been active in KMB, with firms like Norges Bank and MFS building large positions, and institutions now holding about 76.29% of the company.
• Analysts remain cautious: Kimberly-Clark has a Hold consensus rating, even after its latest quarter beat earnings and revenue estimates and it announced a 5.2% dividend yield.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,796 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,800 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $7,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $521,184,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,839,572 shares of the company's stock worth $790,934,000 after buying an additional 2,628,206 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,830,890 shares of the company's stock worth $2,615,382,000 after buying an additional 997,397 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 331.6% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,107,640 shares of the company's stock worth $137,724,000 after buying an additional 851,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 506.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 758,154 shares of the company's stock worth $76,490,000 after buying an additional 633,061 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Kimberly-Clark from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $114.93.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KMB opened at $99.04 on Monday. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 1 year low of $92.42 and a 1 year high of $137.46. The firm has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $97.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.04.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 152.79% and a net margin of 12.80%.The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 80.38%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total transaction of $152,162.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $797,233.08. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total value of $401,310.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 7,096 shares of company stock valued at $689,687 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

More Kimberly-Clark News

Here are the key news stories impacting Kimberly-Clark this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer highlighted Kimberly-Clark as an attractive staple stock, saying he likes it partly because of its pending merger with Kenvue, which may have helped boost investor interest in the name. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also focusing on Kimberly-Clark’s recent conference presentation and its upcoming dividend schedule, which can attract income-oriented buyers and support the stock during periods of market volatility. Article
• Positive Sentiment: The broader move into consumer staples also appears to be helping, as investors rotate toward more defensive sectors amid sharp weakness in the overall market. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Kimberly-Clark’s recent conference appearance and prior earnings update reinforced steady fundamentals, but there was no single new operating headline driving the move. Article

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.

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