US Bancorp DE Sells 1,605 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

US Bancorp DE cut its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 284,661 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,605 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $37,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,428,000 after buying an additional 33,623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $142.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $122.98 and a 1-year high of $149.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.51. 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, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

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.