Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys 19,894 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 199,225 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,894 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Kimberly-Clark worth $26,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock worth $239,267,000 after buying an additional 273,813 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company's stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company's stock worth $4,428,000 after buying an additional 33,623 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $130.90. 1,746,381 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,127,045. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.38. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $124.10 and a 52-week high of $150.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is 68.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.08.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.