5 Biotech Stocks Hedge Funds Are Talking About

2. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 83

Distillate Capital, an investment management firm, published its second-quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. Distillate Capital’s U.S. and International Fundamental Stability & Value strategies gained 5.73% and 4.48% on a total return basis for the quarter, respectively. The U.S. portfolio lagged its S&P 500 benchmark by around 2.8% in the quarter, which offset most of the relative gain from the first quarter such that the first-half performance of the strategy is now 10 basis points ahead of that benchmark. You can view the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a peek at their top bets for 2021.

In the Q2 2021 investor letter of Distillate Capital, the fund mentioned Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and discussed its stance on the firm. Johnson & Johnson is a New Brunswick, New Jersey-based medical device company with a $452.7 billion market capitalization. JNJ delivered a 0.67% return since the beginning of the year, extending its 12-month returns to 9.20%. The stock closed at $172.21 per share on March 7, 2022.

Here is what Distillate Capital has to say about Johnson & Johnson in its Q2 2021 investor letter:

“The largest additions in the rebalance, Johnson & Johnson was around 50 and 40 basis points incrementally. J&J underperformed in the quarter while its normalized free cash flows held steady and so its position size was topped off to match the stable cash flows.”