PDS Planning Inc Grows Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 24.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,795 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,155 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,815,000 after purchasing an additional 641,187 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,197,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,530,000 after purchasing an additional 524,632 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 552.4% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 456,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,163,000 after acquiring an additional 386,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,740,000 after acquiring an additional 368,505 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on KMB shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $7.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $135.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,053,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,170,167. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. The company has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $147.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.43.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 93.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by 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.