Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Stock Position Reduced by Optimum Investment Advisors

Optimum Investment Advisors cut its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 18.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 346 shares of the company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $45,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter valued at approximately $388,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,155 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 779,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,248,000 after acquiring an additional 37,879 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 11.6% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 160,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,435,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,051,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,650,000 after acquiring an additional 155,066 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,101,891.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,395 shares of company stock valued at $3,332,776. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.31.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $139.47 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $142.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $134.54 and a 200-day moving average of $126.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $46.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.