Legal & General Group Plc Sells 64,216 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Kimberly-Clark stake by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 64,216 shares and leaving it with 2,311,328 shares valued at about $233.2 million.
• Kimberly-Clark reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.97 versus estimates of $1.93 and revenue of $4.16 billion, up 2.7% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.28 per share, which implies a 5.1% annualized yield; meanwhile, analysts still broadly rate the stock a Hold with an average target price of $114.93.

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,311,328 shares of the company's stock after selling 64,216 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.70% of Kimberly-Clark worth $233,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,846,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,121,027,000 after acquiring an additional 315,981 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,830,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,615,382,000 after acquiring an additional 997,397 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,628,206 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,940,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $614,357,000 after acquiring an additional 14,306 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,890,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $483,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,951 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total value of $401,310.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $797,233.08. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 7,096 shares of company stock valued at $689,687 over the last 90 days. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KMB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $114.93.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.4%

KMB stock opened at $100.18 on Thursday. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 1-year low of $92.42 and a 1-year high of $144.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $33.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 152.79% and a net margin of 12.80%.The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.38%.

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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