Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,744 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in 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 period. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,506,000 after acquiring an additional 576,610 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,284,000 after acquiring an additional 551,158 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth 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, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% during the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,278,000 after purchasing an additional 386,510 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. The trade was a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $140.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $120.53 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.50.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

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.