Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 334,598 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,774,290 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 334,598 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $281,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 186.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,408,000 after purchasing an additional 28,335 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 591,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,234,000 after purchasing an additional 19,298 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 38,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,932,000 after purchasing an additional 19,130 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5,751.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 94,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,146,000 after buying an additional 92,601 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 399,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,690,000 after buying an additional 14,386 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on KMB. Zacks Research lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays set a $102.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 16th. BNP Paribas Exane restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $110.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Three research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.42.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ KMB opened at $98.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97. The firm has a market cap of $32.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $103.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.06. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 52 week low of $96.26 and a 52 week high of $147.12.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.29, for a total value of $317,980.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.