Whittier Trust Co. Sells 4,795 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Whittier Trust Co. lessened its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 28.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,138 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,795 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 18.2% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 10,820 shares during the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $1,081,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,094,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,994,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.4 %

KMB opened at $143.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $48.22 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $116.32 and a twelve month high of $145.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $140.53 and a 200-day moving average of $133.27.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.67.

Insider Activity

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

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.