UBS Group AG Grows Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 919,669 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 107,736 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 0.27% of Kimberly-Clark worth $111,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 122.5% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $133.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.71. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $116.32 and a 1 year high of $144.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $45.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.71%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total value of $61,398.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,324.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total value of $61,398.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 520 shares in the company, valued at $70,324.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,395 shares of company stock valued at $3,332,776 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.62% 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.