National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 35.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 274,667 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 71,398 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.08% of Kimberly-Clark worth $33,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,191,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $869,090,000 after acquiring an additional 177,712 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company's stock worth $603,815,000 after purchasing an additional 641,187 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company's stock worth $590,345,000 after purchasing an additional 212,739 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,051,719 shares of the company's stock worth $489,650,000 after purchasing an additional 155,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,434,571 shares of the company's stock worth $415,068,000 after purchasing an additional 148,076 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on KMB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of KMB traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $135.97. 1,796,126 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,221,649. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock's 50-day moving average is $127.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.53. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $145.67. The stock has a market cap of $45.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. Kimberly-Clark's quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 795 shares of the company's stock, valued at $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total value of $61,398.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 520 shares of the company's stock, valued at $70,324.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,562 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,345 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

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.