Verity Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Verity Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 49.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,042 shares during the quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,502,000 after buying an additional 6,332 shares during the period. United Bank grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 110.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 9,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 4,876 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.8% during the 2nd 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 stake in Johnson & Johnson by 9.8% during the 2nd 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 22,623 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.33, for a total transaction of $5,527,477.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,769 shares in the company, valued at $6,540,469.77. The trade was a 45.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 6,197 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.39, for a total value of $1,508,287.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,598,700.17. This represents a 21.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 30,142 shares of company stock valued at $7,360,528 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JNJ. Bank of America raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Loop Capital set a $220.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. TD Cowen started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.48.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $227.51 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $547.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $238.83 and a 200-day moving average of $219.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $146.12 and a 52 week high of $251.71.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $24.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.60 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 21.83%.The business’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.77 EPS. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.450-11.650 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.57 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 61.97%.

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.