Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 399.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,765 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,009 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $1,387,709,000 after buying an additional 529,223 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,473,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,113,444,000 after buying an additional 797,953 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $582,592,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,040,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,459,000 after acquiring an additional 30,312 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $134.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $123.84 and a 52-week high of $150.45. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.87.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on KMB. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.