Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB Shares Sold by Optimist Retirement Group LLC

Key Points

• Optimist Retirement Group LLC cut its Kimberly-Clark stake by 64.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,794 shares and leaving it with 6,458 shares valued at about $652,000.
• Wall Street sentiment on KMB is mostly cautious, with analysts holding an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $114.93.
• Kimberly-Clark beat quarterly earnings expectations, posting $1.97 EPS and $4.16 billion in revenue, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.28 per share, or a 5.2% annualized yield.

Optimist Retirement Group LLC reduced its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB - Free Report) by 64.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,458 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,794 shares during the quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,846,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,121,027,000 after buying an additional 315,981 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,830,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,615,382,000 after buying an additional 997,397 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,839,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $790,934,000 after buying an additional 2,628,206 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,940,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $614,357,000 after buying an additional 14,306 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,890,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $483,707,000 after buying an additional 9,951 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut Kimberly-Clark from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $114.93.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KMB opened at $98.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $32.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 52 week low of $92.42 and a 52 week high of $144.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 152.79% and a net margin of 12.80%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is currently 80.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total value of $401,310.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total value of $152,162.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $797,233.08. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,096 shares of company stock valued at $689,687. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.

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