Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Bought by TIAA Trust National Association

TIAA Trust National Association grew its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,571 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $139.53 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $135.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.06. The stock has a market cap of $46.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $123.84 and a 1-year high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

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.