Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank cut its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,139 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,099 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $12,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $142.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $139.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.75. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $124.10 and a 12-month high of $150.45. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $146.31.

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.

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