CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 1,454 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,830 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,454 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $6,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at about $705,000. Bell Bank increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Bell Bank now owns 44,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,335,000 after buying an additional 1,532 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.5% during the first quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 5,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.7% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $130.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $124.10 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total transaction of $234,547.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $405,032.52. The trade was a 36.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.