American Trust Has $7.04 Million Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

American Trust trimmed its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,827 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 0.6% of American Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. American Trust’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 240,349,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,740,362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,074 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 133,869,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,704,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,782 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22,225.6% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 69,419,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,633,000 after purchasing an additional 69,108,368 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,953,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,967,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738,292 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,924,523,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Johnson & Johnson

Here are the key news stories impacting Johnson & Johnson this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to $287 from $265 and kept an outperform rating, implying additional upside as investors look ahead to earnings. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Several market watchers highlighted JNJ as a potential buy before earnings, pointing to its strong year-to-date move, recent all-time highs, and the appeal of its dividend as capital rotates into healthcare names. The Real Case for Buying Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Before July 15
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and stock commentary remain focused on JNJ’s upcoming quarterly results, with expectations centered on continued operational strength despite patent and competitive headwinds. Zacks: Is JNJ Stock a Buy, Sell or Hold Ahead of Q2 Earnings Release?
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market weakness weighed on Wall Street Monday, which could limit gains even for defensive names like JNJ. NASDAQ Snaps 3-Day Winning Streak as Oil Jumps Amid US-Iran Tensions
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre-earnings previews from Zacks, TipRanks, and Barron’s kept Johnson & Johnson in focus, but these pieces were mainly commentary ahead of the report rather than new company-specific catalysts. Zacks: Is Johnson & Johnson Stock Poised for New Highs as Q2 Results Approach?

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $257.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $620.64 billion, a PE ratio of 29.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $154.80 and a one year high of $269.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $237.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.60.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.02. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 32.60%. The firm had revenue of $24.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.15, for a total value of $2,411,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,560,551.20. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC set a $290.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $225.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $285.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $283.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $261.26.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.