Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB Shares Sold by Rockland Trust Co.

Rockland Trust Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,541 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,794 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $8,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 186.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,408,000 after acquiring an additional 28,335 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,439,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,448,000 after purchasing an additional 58,978 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 591,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,234,000 after purchasing an additional 19,298 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 100.0% in the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 38,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,932,000 after purchasing an additional 19,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5,751.6% during the second quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 94,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,146,000 after buying an additional 92,601 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $112.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.29, for a total transaction of $317,980.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ KMB opened at $104.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a one year low of $96.26 and a one year high of $150.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $101.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.23.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.05. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 170.48%. The company had revenue of $4.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 83.03%.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.