Norinchukin Bank The Sells 414 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Norinchukin Bank The lessened its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,762 shares of the company’s stock after selling 414 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $142.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $47.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $139.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.68. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $124.10 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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, sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.