Insider Selling: Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Insider Sells 15,302 Shares of Stock

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB – Get Rating) insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 15,302 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.63, for a total transaction of $2,182,524.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,940,296.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

NYSE:KMB traded down $4.30 on Tuesday, hitting $139.18. 3,622,576 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,092,285. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.05, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.82. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $117.32 and a 52 week high of $145.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $126.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.72.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.12. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 284.26%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.40%.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $118.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 29th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $128.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.12.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 25,904,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,702,302,000 after acquiring an additional 690,759 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,858,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,572,147,000 after acquiring an additional 289,762 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,172,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,596,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,043,708 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 46.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,482,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,363,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,605,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $799,062,000 after purchasing an additional 122,005 shares in the last quarter. 72.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile (Get Rating)

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products worldwide. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, swimpants, training and youth pants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, Poise, and other brand names.

See Also