FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Has $579,000 Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lowered its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 12.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,474 shares of the company’s stock after selling 615 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total value of $866,420.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,562,467.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,395 shares of company stock worth $3,332,776. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $137.92. 402,865 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,148,843. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $142.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $135.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.64.

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.