Greenleaf Trust Sells 157 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Greenleaf Trust decreased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,485 shares of the company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KMB. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at $96,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,483,000 after buying an additional 34,646 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 292,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,066,000 after buying an additional 7,878 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.9% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 4,503 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on KMB. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.0 %

KMB stock opened at $126.83 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.35. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $147.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 93.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.