Monarch Capital Management Inc. Sells 335 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,291 shares of the company’s stock after selling 335 shares during the quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,883,000 after buying an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 45,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $95,978.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of KMB stock opened at $133.04 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The stock has a market cap of $44.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $136.85 and a 200 day moving average of $135.39. 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 (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.08.

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.