Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $237,000 in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KVUE. Leo Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Kenvue by 0.3% during the third quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 151,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,507,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA grew its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 191,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in Kenvue by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 8,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in Kenvue by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 76,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Kenvue by 12.0% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Kenvue Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:KVUE opened at $20.79 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.78. The stock has a market cap of $39.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Kenvue Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.67 and a 12 month high of $24.46.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Kenvue had a net margin of 6.88% and a return on equity of 21.43%. The company had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. Kenvue’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Kenvue’s payout ratio is 149.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KVUE shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Kenvue from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Kenvue from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Kenvue from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Kenvue from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Kenvue from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.08.

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.