Truist Financial Corp Sells 9,323 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 122,661 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,323 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $16,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $137.85 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $118.62 and a 12-month high of $149.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS 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 paid a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.64%.

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.