Norges Bank Makes New $582.59 Million Investment in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,445,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $582,592,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 572,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,450,000 after buying an additional 17,919 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 47,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,756,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 32.8% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 63,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,037,000 after acquiring an additional 15,693 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 42.9% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 14,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 4,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,900,000 after purchasing an additional 20,953 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $140.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $136.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.05. 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 fifty-two week low of $123.84 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This is a boost 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 3.58%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given 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 $144.85.

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.