First Bank & Trust Cuts Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

First Bank & Trust cut its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,956 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,039 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 18.8% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 8,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 123,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,628,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 12.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 240,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,283,000 after buying an additional 26,795 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 55.5% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 19,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 6,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Busey Bank lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 9.5% in the third quarter. Busey Bank now owns 5,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KMB shares. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen started coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB traded down $1.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $135.52. 2,273,945 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,121,164. The company has a market capitalization of $45.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.63 and a 12-month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

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.