Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Trims Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 9.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,072 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,174 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 18.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 454,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,738,000 after purchasing an additional 69,794 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 506.8% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 10,820 shares in the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $1,081,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $1,094,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $11,994,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Argus raised shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB stock opened at $143.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $140.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.27. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $145.68.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

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.