Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Kimberly Clark Corp (KMB) Anymore

Is Kimberly Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB) the right investment to pursue these days? The smart money is selling. The number of long hedge fund positions were cut by 1 lately.

To the average investor, there are many methods shareholders can use to watch stocks. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a superb margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of incentives for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a look at the recent action encompassing Kimberly Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB).

How have hedgies been trading Kimberly Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 20 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -5% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Diamond Hill Capital, managed by Ric Dillon, holds the biggest position in Kimberly Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB). Diamond Hill Capital has a $212.6 million position in the stock, comprising 2.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $108.3 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management.

Due to the fact that Kimberly Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB) has experienced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few funds who sold off their full holdings last quarter. At the top of the heap, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management dumped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, valued at close to $22.9 million in stock., and Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $7.4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds last quarter.

How are insiders trading Kimberly Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, Kimberly Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Kimberly Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB). These stocks are Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR), The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE:AVP), Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL), and Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL). All of these stocks are in the personal products industry and their market caps are similar to KMB’s market cap.