FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Has $553,000 Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH reduced its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 10.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 470 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $437,420,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,279,000 after purchasing an additional 944,920 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,926,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,094 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 277.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 472,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,466,000 after purchasing an additional 347,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 32.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,040,000 after purchasing an additional 330,327 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $147.17 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $141.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.39. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.