Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $1.39 Billion Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,589,967 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 529,223 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,387,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $143.48 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.49. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $122.98 and a 52-week high of $149.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $47.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.