CoreFirst Bank & Trust Makes New $183,000 Investment in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $137.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $135.09 and a 200 day moving average of $136.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. 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 note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.