Kimberly-Clark Slides to 270th in $340M Trading Volume Amid Diverging Institutional Bets and 3.8% Dividend Yield

Kimberly-Clark (KMB) fell 1.21% on August 18, 2025, with a trading volume of $0.34 billion, ranking 270th in market activity. Institutional investors showed mixed activity, with Azimuth Capital reducing its stake by 12.2% in Q1, while the Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased holdings by 8.8% to 44,826 shares valued at $6.37 million. The company announced a $1.26 quarterly dividend, yielding 3.8% annually, payable October 2, with an ex-dividend date of September 5.

Analyst sentiment remained cautiously optimistic, with RBC and UBS lowering price targets to $162 and $139, respectively, while JPMorgan upgraded KMB to “neutral” with a $138 target. The stock maintains a consensus “Hold” rating, averaging $142.70 as a target price. Recent earnings revealed $1.92 per share for Q2, exceeding estimates, though revenue dropped 1.6% year-over-year to $4.16 billion. The firm’s 69.42% payout ratio and 7.05 debt-to-equity ratio highlight its financial structure.

Insider transactions included U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain selling $1,001–$15,000 in KMB shares on July 16, alongside sales in other tech and consumer stocks. Institutional ownership remains robust at 76.29%, with new stakes from firms like First Pacific Financial and AlphaCore Capital. The stock’s 50-day and 200-day moving averages stand at $130.42 and $135.04, respectively.

The strategy of buying the top 500 stocks by daily trading volume and holding for one day generated a $2,340 profit from 2022 to the present, yielding a 23.4% cumulative return. This reflects modest gains amid market volatility and conservative trading parameters.