Nomura Holdings Inc. Has $826,000 Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 237.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,800 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,783 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,815,000 after buying an additional 641,187 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,345,000 after acquiring an additional 212,739 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,051,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,650,000 after purchasing an additional 155,066 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $437,420,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,155 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.31.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $140.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.77. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $142.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total transaction of $142,334.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,833 shares in the company, valued at $524,584.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,395 shares of company stock worth $3,332,776. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark 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.