North Star Asset Management Inc. Has $15.06 Million Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,959 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,282 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $15,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB stock traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $143.56. The company had a trading volume of 694,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,178,917. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $124.10 and a one year high of $150.45. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $137.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.18.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total transaction of $95,978.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $518,410.90. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,372 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,684 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

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.