Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $10.52 Million Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 24.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,313 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,336 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $10,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after buying an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,443,000 after acquiring an additional 358,926 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,388,000 after acquiring an additional 206,671 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,900,000 after purchasing an additional 20,953 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:KMB opened at $129.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $131.63 and its 200 day moving average is $137.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is a boost 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 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.