North Star Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,959 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 24,282 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $15,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock worth $4,605,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,787 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $582,592,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 163.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,142,749 shares of the company's stock worth $280,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,341 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company's stock worth $740,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $127,436,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 note on Friday, March 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.08.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total transaction of $95,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,372 shares of company stock worth $1,858,684. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:KMB traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $142.90. 2,594,113 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,186,334. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $137.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. The company 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is 68.66%.

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.