Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires Shares of 129,031 Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 129,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,164,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $101.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.93.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $109.31 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.42 and a 12-month high of $134.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $108.89 and its 200 day moving average is $103.46.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 143.92%. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.07%.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.