Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $299.45 Million Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,285,180 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 116,554 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.69% of Kimberly-Clark worth $299,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,267,000 after buying an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 153,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,907,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at about $212,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 12,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth approximately $280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $142.68 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.68. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. 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 company has a market cap of $47.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark 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.