Ethic Inc. Sells 44,947 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 45% in Q1, selling 44,947 shares, leaving it with 55,032 shares valued at $8,434,000.
• Other hedge funds have increased their positions in Johnson & Johnson, with institutional investors now owning 69.55% of the company's stock.
• Johnson & Johnson reported a quarterly EPS of $2.77, exceeding estimates, and announced a dividend of $1.30 per share to be paid on September 9th.

Ethic Inc. trimmed its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 45.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,032 shares of the company's stock after selling 44,947 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded up $0.6940 on Wednesday, reaching $178.4940. 2,687,593 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,003,291. The company has a fifty day moving average of $162.13 and a 200-day moving average of $158.73. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $180.61. The company has a market capitalization of $429.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2025 guidance at 10.800-10.900 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is 55.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.50.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.