Kentucky Trust Co Buys Shares of 310 Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 75,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,692,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 171,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,350,000 after acquiring an additional 5,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB stock opened at $133.87 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $129.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.60. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $117.67 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The firm has a market cap of $44.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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.