Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,974,239 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 445,552 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.19% of Kimberly-Clark worth $520,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock worth $4,605,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,787 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $582,592,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 163.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,142,749 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,786,000 after buying an additional 1,328,341 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $740,868,000 after buying an additional 1,015,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $127,436,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.4 %
Shares of KMB traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $130.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,258,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,128,248. The company has a 50 day moving average of $138.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The firm has a market cap of $43.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $124.10 and a 1-year high of $150.45.
Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.66%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.08.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on KMB
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total transaction of $95,978.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,872 shares of company stock valued at $2,208,684 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.
About Kimberly-Clark
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Free Report)
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.
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