First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Lowers Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,678 shares of the company’s stock after selling 211 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,699,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.9% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 14,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,057,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 13,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,865,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 987 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $133.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $124.10 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.39. The company has a market cap of $44.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 68.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total transaction of $95,978.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $518,410.90. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is currently 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.