Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 10,600,682 Shares of Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kenvue Inc. by 4.9%, acquiring an additional 10,600,682 shares, bringing its total ownership to 229,144,387 shares worth approximately $5.49 billion.
• Kenvue recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.2075, representing a dividend yield of 3.9%, which is up from the previous dividend of $0.21.
• The company reported earnings of $0.24 per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $3.74 billion, which is a 3.9% decrease year-over-year.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 229,144,387 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,600,682 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.94% of Kenvue worth $5,494,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Starboard Value LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kenvue during the 4th quarter valued at $467,864,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Kenvue by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,885,918 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,249,665,000 after purchasing an additional 8,211,748 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kenvue by 34.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 19,670,179 shares of the company's stock valued at $471,691,000 after purchasing an additional 5,011,431 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kenvue during the fourth quarter worth about $66,916,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,924,179 shares of the company's stock worth $404,002,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025,924 shares during the last quarter. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KVUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Kenvue from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Kenvue from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Kenvue from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Kenvue from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $24.38.

Kenvue Trading Down 1.8%

Kenvue stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.37. 25,925,024 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,613,902. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $21.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.40. Kenvue Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.75 and a twelve month high of $25.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.00 billion, a PE ratio of 28.88, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.83.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.94 billion. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.36% and a net margin of 9.37%. The firm's revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Kenvue Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This is a positive change from Kenvue's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Kenvue's payout ratio is 149.09%.

Kenvue Profile

Kenvue Inc operates as a consumer health company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Self Care, Skin Health and Beauty, and Essential Health. The Self Care segment offers cough, cold and allergy, pain care, digestive health, smoking cessation, eye care, and other products under the Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Nicorette, Zarbee's, ORSLTM, Rhinocort, Calpol, and Zyrtec brands.