Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $18.13 Million Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,321 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $18,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,589,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,387,709,000 after purchasing an additional 529,223 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,388,000 after purchasing an additional 206,671 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,040,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,459,000 after purchasing an additional 30,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $138.31 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $123.84 and a 12-month high of $150.45. The stock has a market cap of $45.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $134.84 and its 200-day moving average is $136.34.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on 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 boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen cut 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. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

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.