Fruth Investment Management Sells 70 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Fruth Investment Management reduced its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,192 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.2% of Fruth Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.29.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of JNJ opened at $178.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $429.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.40. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $181.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $23.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.85 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 25.00%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. 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 fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 26th. 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.