Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,941 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $437,420,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,279,000 after purchasing an additional 944,920 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,926,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,094 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 277.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 472,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,466,000 after buying an additional 347,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 69.2% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 779,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,793,000 after buying an additional 318,680 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.67.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $144.66 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $140.70 and a 200-day moving average of $133.51. The company has a market cap of $48.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $116.32 and a 1 year high of $145.68.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

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.