First Bank & Trust Sells 6,308 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

First Bank & Trust lessened its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,648 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,308 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company's stock worth $2,768,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,506,000 after purchasing an additional 576,610 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,284,000 after acquiring an additional 551,158 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company's stock worth $358,625,000 after buying an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,278,000 after purchasing an additional 386,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 target price (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of KMB stock traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $140.28. 2,316,595 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,169,741. The company's 50-day moving average price is $130.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.48. The company has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 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.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 64.64%.

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.