Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Acquired by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 665.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,313 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,310 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $5,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KMB shares. Citigroup cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.1 %

KMB opened at $140.73 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $123.84 and a one year high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $136.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

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.