West Branch Capital LLC Cuts Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

West Branch Capital LLC cut its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 75.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 222 shares of the company’s stock after selling 697 shares during the quarter. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $95,978.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $518,410.90. This trade represents a 15.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on KMB shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.73.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE:KMB opened at $130.84 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The company has a market cap of $43.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.27. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

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.