Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Boosts Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,149 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,498 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $7,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 84.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 216,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,839,000 after acquiring an additional 99,011 shares during the period. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth $208,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 33,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,759,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth $240,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 17.0% in the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.2 %

KMB stock opened at $139.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $133.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.38. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.02 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. 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 3.60%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.