Johnson & Johnson to buy back $5B in stock

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) said yesterday that its board authorized a stock buyback worth $5 billion in a bid to shore up its share price.

“Based on our continued strong performance and, more importantly, the confidence we have in our business going forward, the board of directors and management team believe that the company’s shares are an attractive investment opportunity,” chairman & CEO Alex Gorsky said in prepared remarks. “Our strong cash flow enables us to simultaneously return value to shareholders through our regular quarterly dividend and share repurchases, while at the same time continuing to deploy capital that will further strengthen our robust enterprise pipeline and drive long-term growth.”

JNJ shares are off -7.7% year-to-date from their $141.71 start. The stock was up 1.3% to $130.82 today in late-morning trading.

The New Brunswick, N.J.-based company, which said it had roughly 2.68 billion shares outstanding as of Sept. 30, stood pat on its 2018 guidance for adjusted earnings per share of $8.13 to $8.18 on sales of $81.0 billion to $81.4 billion.

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