First County Bank CT Cuts Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

First County Bank CT cut its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 50.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,122 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,250 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth $29,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB opened at $137.21 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.11. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

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.