Aureus Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Aureus Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 48.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,841 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,325 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after acquiring an additional 6,332 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 110.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 9,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 4,876 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.8% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 73,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,255,000 after purchasing an additional 6,584 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on JNJ. HSBC set a $290.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $254.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Johnson Rice upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $282.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.30.

Johnson & Johnson News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approved J&J’s OTTAVA robotic surgery system, opening the door for Johnson & Johnson to compete in robotic soft-tissue surgery and potentially expand its medtech growth runway. Reuters article on OTTAVA approval
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also encouraged by the prospect of a phased launch of OTTAVA with select customers, suggesting J&J is preparing a commercial rollout after securing clearance. Medical Device Network article on OTTAVA launch plans
• Positive Sentiment: J&J also continues to look like a defensive income stock, with a newly declared quarterly dividend reinforcing its appeal to dividend-focused investors. Yahoo Finance dividend article
• Neutral Sentiment: A federal judge cast doubt on roughly 69,000 talc-related cancer claims, but the court did not dismiss the litigation outright, so the legal overhang remains a mixed but potentially improving risk for J&J. Reuters talc litigation article

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.15, for a total value of $2,411,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 114,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,560,551.20. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $255.71 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $241.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.76. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $164.23 and a 52-week high of $269.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $615.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.24.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.06. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.86% and a net margin of 21.48%.The company had revenue of $25.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a $1.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.11%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.