Advisors Capital Management LLC Purchases 43,664 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 10.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 442,801 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,664 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.1% of Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $73,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MBL Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,200,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,053,000 after purchasing an additional 432,407 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 65,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 457,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,830,000 after purchasing an additional 3,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorns Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth $263,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on JNJ. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up from $164.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $175.70 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $181.16. The stock has a market cap of $423.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.40. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $169.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.12.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.09. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 25.00%.The firm had revenue of $23.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

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.