Sigma Planning Corp Has $2.55 Million Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sigma Planning Corp raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,468 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,506,000 after purchasing an additional 576,610 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,284,000 after purchasing an additional 551,158 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% in the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,278,000 after purchasing an additional 386,510 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.9 %

KMB opened at $140.28 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $118.62 and a twelve month high of $149.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.48. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $46.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

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

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.