National Bank of Canada FI Sells 74,434 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 298,443 shares of the company’s stock after selling 74,434 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.09% of Kimberly-Clark worth $39,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 477,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,514,000 after acquiring an additional 58,793 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 20,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 6,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 430,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,442,000 after buying an additional 33,772 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.85.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $143.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $47.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $137.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.97.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

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.