Bell Bank Lowers Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Bell Bank lessened its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,055 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,686 shares during the period. Bell Bank's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $5,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth about $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on KMB. Barclays increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE KMB traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $131.68. 1,542,647 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,105,282. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.18. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $117.67 and a twelve month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.