Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 16,515 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 153,501 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,515 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $20,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,431,443,000 after purchasing an additional 358,926 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,388,000 after purchasing an additional 206,671 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,625,000 after purchasing an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,900,000 after purchasing an additional 20,953 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of KMB stock opened at $140.28 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $118.62 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $130.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced 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, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 64.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

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.