North Star Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

North Star Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,439 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,724 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $14,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 74.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter worth about $554,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 42,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,884,000 after purchasing an additional 6,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.6% in the first quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NASDAQ KMB opened at $105.03 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.22 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $115.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.26.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.37. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 184.87%. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 85.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $118.00 to $113.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $129.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Argus raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.91.

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.