National Pension Service Buys 24,389 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 626,153 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,389 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $63,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,839,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,628,206 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,830,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,615,382,000 after acquiring an additional 997,397 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 331.6% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,107,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,724,000 after acquiring an additional 851,024 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 506.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 758,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,490,000 after acquiring an additional 633,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $48,807,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on KMB shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,233.08. This trade represents a 16.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $401,310.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 7,096 shares of company stock valued at $689,687 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $97.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.42 and a 12-month high of $144.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 152.79%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.38%.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

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.