Ransom Advisory Ltd Purchases Shares of 12,197 Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• Ransom Advisory Ltd has acquired 12,197 shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), valued at approximately $2,023,000, making it the firm's 24th largest position.
• Institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc and Bank of New York Mellon Corp, have increased their stakes in Johnson & Johnson, with institutional ownership currently at 69.55%.
• Johnson & Johnson reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $2.77, above analysts' consensus estimate, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share.

Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,023,000. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.0% of Ransom Advisory Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,962,679 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,800,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,120 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company's stock worth $5,131,723,000 after purchasing an additional 130,645 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock worth $3,844,580,000 after buying an additional 4,842,582 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,899,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,133,602,000 after buying an additional 712,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,282,410 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,031,955,000 after buying an additional 448,666 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.29.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total value of $10,041,108.51. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $177.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $169.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $426.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.40. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $181.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 25.00%.The business's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2025 guidance at 10.800-10.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 was Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.61%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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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