Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Position Boosted by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 94,406 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $12,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.31.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 2.1 %

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $142.68 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued 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 of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.