Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE)

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 31,130 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 65% compared to the average daily volume of 18,853 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on KVUE shares. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Kenvue in a research report on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Kenvue from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kenvue currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.33.

Institutional Trading of Kenvue

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kenvue during the fourth quarter worth about $521,348,000. Starboard Value LP acquired a new position in Kenvue during the 4th quarter valued at about $467,864,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kenvue by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,719,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $912,059,000 after purchasing an additional 16,269,721 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 97,661,344 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,085,070,000 after buying an additional 10,682,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 4.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,144,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,494,882,000 after buying an additional 10,600,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.64% of the company's stock.

Kenvue Price Performance

Shares of KVUE traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.42. 5,074,217 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,916,434. Kenvue has a 52-week low of $17.67 and a 52-week high of $25.17. The company has a market cap of $41.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.87% and a net margin of 6.90%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kenvue will post 1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. Kenvue's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 149.09%.

Kenvue Company 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.

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