American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stake in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,534,430 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 206,108 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $315,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,435,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,212,942,000 after buying an additional 5,200,011 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth $556,114,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 350.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,583,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,501 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 32,568.4% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 978,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,138,000 after acquiring an additional 975,424 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 88.9% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,048,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,274,000 after purchasing an additional 963,978 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. Barclays set a $102.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.00.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of KMB opened at $111.44 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $96.26 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The firm has a market cap of $36.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $102.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 170.48%. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.03%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.29, for a total value of $317,980.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.