New England Research & Management Inc. Purchases 12,375 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 124.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,324 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,375 shares during the quarter. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at about $556,114,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 350.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,583,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,501 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,830,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,615,382,000 after purchasing an additional 997,397 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 32,568.4% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 978,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,138,000 after purchasing an additional 975,424 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 88.9% in the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KMB. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:KMB opened at $98.25 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 1 year low of $96.26 and a 1 year high of $147.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $103.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.06. The stock has a market cap of $32.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 170.48% and a net margin of 11.73%.The company had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 84.35%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.