Morton Community Bank Purchases 485 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Morton Community Bank lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,791 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the quarter. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.7 %

KMB stock opened at $144.86 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.46. The stock has a market cap of $48.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.02 and a twelve month high of $149.31.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.75%.

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.