M&T Bank Corp Decreases Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

M&T Bank Corp lessened its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,752 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,447 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $18,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 204.0% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,500,000 after acquiring an additional 13,806 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $4,253,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $1,661,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,740,000 after buying an additional 368,505 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $136.09. 1,907,297 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,559,916. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.43. The stock has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.38. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $146.15.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,101,891.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,562 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,345 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KMB. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.85.

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.