Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Kenvue Inc. $KVUE

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management increased its Kenvue stake by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 49.9 million shares valued at about $856.8 million.
• Kenvue’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, posting $0.32 EPS on $3.91 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 4.5% year over year.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: Kenvue has a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $19.33, even after recent upgrades and downgrades.

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,862,574 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 371,322 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.60% of Kenvue worth $856,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KVUE. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Kenvue in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,528,000. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 210.6% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 54,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37,170 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 48,892 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,524 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 219.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 97,481 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 66,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,873,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,217,000 after purchasing an additional 10,885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KVUE. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kenvue from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $23.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kenvue from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Kenvue from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Argus upgraded Kenvue to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Kenvue from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kenvue currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.33.

Kenvue Stock Down 2.0%

NYSE KVUE opened at $17.29 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.46. Kenvue Inc. has a one year low of $14.02 and a one year high of $23.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $33.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.55.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Kenvue's dividend payout ratio is currently 97.65%.

Insider Transactions at Kenvue

In related news, General Counsel Matthew Orlando sold 38,491 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.66, for a total transaction of $679,751.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.59% of the company's stock.

Kenvue Company Profile

Kenvue is a consumer health company that was established as a standalone, publicly traded business after separating from Johnson & Johnson. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KVUE, Kenvue focuses on the development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of consumer health and personal care products across a range of categories including skin and beauty care, baby care, oral care, wound care and over‑the‑counter medicines.

The company owns and markets a portfolio of widely recognized consumer brands, including names familiar to global shoppers across retail and pharmacy channels.

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