North Star Asset Management Inc. Acquires 24,282 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $516,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 93.5% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 5,532 shares of the company's stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 2,673 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the company's stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 34,007 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,456,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $95,978.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,372 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,684. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of KMB stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $142.66. 1,748,072 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,184,588. The company has a market capitalization of $47.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $137.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.13. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.66%.

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.