Barclays PLC Purchases 365,586 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,293,919 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 365,586 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $160,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 186.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,408,000 after acquiring an additional 28,335 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,439,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,448,000 after acquiring an additional 58,978 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 591,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,234,000 after acquiring an additional 19,298 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 38,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,932,000 after purchasing an additional 19,130 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5,751.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 94,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,146,000 after purchasing an additional 92,601 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $112.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays set a $102.00 price target on Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.00.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $104.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $34.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.22. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 1 year low of $96.26 and a 1 year high of $150.45.

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. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 170.48%. The business had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.29, for a total transaction of $317,980.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is owned by 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.