NorthRock Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 477.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,917 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,028 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on 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 objective on Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total value of $234,547.56. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $405,032.52. This represents a 36.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,872 shares of company stock worth $2,208,684. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $133.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.70. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.