Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Purchases New Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 20,341 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,472,000. Kimberly-Clark accounts for about 0.9% of Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,750 shares of the company's stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.8% during the third quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,341 shares of the company's stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,325 shares of the company's stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connors Investor Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 4,371 shares of the company's stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $123.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.43.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE KMB traded down $2.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $123.89. The stock had a trading volume of 2,661,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,092,909. The firm has a market cap of $41.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $123.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.17.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The firm had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark's revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.85%.

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.