BNP Paribas Buys 23,080 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

BNP Paribas boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 3,228.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,795 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,080 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 15,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,035,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 448,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,222,000 after purchasing an additional 9,691 shares during the period. Rockline Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Finally, AXS Investments LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on KMB shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total value of $152,162.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,233.08. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $401,310.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,096 shares of company stock valued at $689,687. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KMB opened at $97.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $97.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $32.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.28. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 1 year low of $92.42 and a 1 year high of $141.02.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 152.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 80.38%.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.