Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 476 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,405 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 175.0% during the 3rd quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $123.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.85.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.6 %

KMB stock opened at $128.89 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $147.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. The firm has a market cap of $43.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.43.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.