Westpac Banking Corp Has $4.61 Million Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 35,208 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,675 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,428,000 after purchasing an additional 33,623 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. The trade was a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on KMB. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB opened at $143.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.97. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $123.84 and a one year high of $150.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.75%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.