First Merchants Corp Sells 469 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

First Merchants Corp decreased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,589 shares of the company’s stock after selling 469 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $132.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $117.93 and a 1 year high of $149.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by 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.