Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Increases Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,896 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,956 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned approximately 0.06% of Kimberly-Clark worth $26,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.2 %

KMB stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $141.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 586,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,139,324. The firm's 50-day moving average is $138.92 and its 200-day moving average is $135.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The company has a market cap of $46.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $124.10 and a 12 month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 an increase from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.38.

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.