Empyrean Capital Partners LP Buys Shares of 187,200 Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 187,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,887,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,125,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,157,746,000 after buying an additional 294,228 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,917,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,322,000 after purchasing an additional 299,382 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,322,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $836,216,000 after purchasing an additional 65,619 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,839,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628,206 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of KMB opened at $101.47 on Thursday. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.42 and a 12-month high of $137.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $98.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.84.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 80.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on KMB. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total transaction of $152,162.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at $797,233.08. The trade was a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total value of $401,310.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 7,096 shares of company stock worth $689,687 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark 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.