KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 33,700 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.1%, buying an additional 33,700 shares during the second quarter.
• Analysts are optimistic about Johnson & Johnson, with several upgrades resulting in an average consensus price target of $189.88 and a rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $2.77, exceeding analyst expectations, and plans for a dividend of $1.30 per share with a yield of 2.7%.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,117,314 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,700 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 0.7% of KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $170,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,369,188,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,844,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,842,582 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1,382.0% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,030,084 shares of the company's stock valued at $502,509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,825,626 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 159.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,159,260 shares of the company's stock valued at $635,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $401,420,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Erste Group Bank raised Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $189.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:JNJ opened at $189.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $456.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.40. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $190.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $177.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.37.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

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.

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