Sciencast Management LP Invests $2.58 Million in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP established a new position in Johnson & Johnson, purchasing 15,571 shares worth approximately $2.58 million in the 1st quarter of the year.
• Johnson & Johnson's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.77, surpassing expectations, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30, yielding 2.9%.
• Multiple investment firms raised their price targets for Johnson & Johnson, with Citigroup increasing its target from $185 to $200 and maintaining a "buy" rating.

Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,582,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Lantz Financial LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the company's stock worth $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. Apexium Financial LP grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% during the first quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 23,989 shares of the company's stock worth $3,978,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the first quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 74,132 shares of the company's stock worth $12,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,526 shares during the period. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company's stock worth $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 10,279 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.0% during the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 73,350 shares of the company's stock worth $12,164,000 after acquiring an additional 4,816 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on JNJ. Wall Street Zen lowered Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $167.00 target price (up previously from $164.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Leerink Partners lowered Johnson & Johnson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.29.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $175.70. 6,890,535 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,937,464. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $423.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.40. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $181.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.02.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $23.74 billion for 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2025 guidance at 10.800-10.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is 55.61%.

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.