First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stock Position in Kenvue Inc. $KVUE

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) by 13.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,888,992 shares of the company’s stock after selling 454,817 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Kenvue were worth $49,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KVUE. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Kenvue during the second quarter valued at about $6,528,000. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Kenvue by 210.6% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 54,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37,170 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of Kenvue by 21.1% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 48,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,524 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kenvue by 219.1% in the second 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 during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Kenvue by 0.6% in the second 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on KVUE. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Kenvue from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Kenvue from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research lowered Kenvue from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kenvue from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Kenvue to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.58.

Kenvue Price Performance

KVUE stock opened at $19.25 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.38 and a 200-day moving average of $17.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.47. Kenvue Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.02 and a 12 month high of $22.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Kenvue had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The business had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. Kenvue’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Matthew Orlando sold 38,491 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.66, for a total value of $679,751.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company 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.