West Branch Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• West Branch Capital LLC has increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 28.1%, owning 32,530 shares valued at approximately $4.97 million.
• Insider Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares at an average price of $177.81, reducing her ownership by 24.08%.
• Johnson & Johnson's stock has a current market cap of $432.75 billion and recently reported better-than-expected earnings of $2.77 per share for the last quarter.

West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 28.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,530 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,130 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 1.5% of West Branch Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. West Branch Capital LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total value of $10,041,108.51. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Erste Group Bank raised Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $181.40.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:JNJ opened at $179.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $432.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $174.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.06. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $181.16. 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.09. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue 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, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is presently 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.

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