Gotham Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 151,024 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 21,921 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $19,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,559 shares of the company's stock worth $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,637 shares of the company's stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the company's stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the company's stock worth $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $95,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,872 shares of company stock worth $2,208,684 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of KMB traded down $2.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $134.44. The company had a trading volume of 352,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,136,957. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $124.10 and a 52-week high of $150.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $137.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

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.