Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its stake in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,620 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,552 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Kenvue were worth $411,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kenvue by 80.8% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kenvue in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Kenvue during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Kenvue during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Kenvue by 71.2% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. 97.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. HSBC raised their target price on Kenvue from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Kenvue from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kenvue in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kenvue from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Kenvue from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.64.

Kenvue Stock Performance

Shares of Kenvue stock opened at $21.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $42.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.54 and its 200-day moving average is $19.56. Kenvue Inc. has a one year low of $17.67 and a one year high of $23.33.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. Kenvue had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is a boost from Kenvue’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.13%.

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.