Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Acquired by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 76,416 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,398 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $10,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 37,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,289,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 13,351.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 311,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,288,000 after acquiring an additional 308,959 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 11.3% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 2,345 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 241.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 38,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,494,000 after acquiring an additional 27,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, apricus wealth LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.2% in the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 6,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price 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, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.9 %

KMB stock opened at $140.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $118.62 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.48. The stock has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.64%.

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.