By Colin Kellaher

 

Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday said its board authorized the repurchase of up to $5 billion of common stock.

The New Brunswick, N.J., healthcare giant, which had nearly 2.63 billion shares outstanding at the end of July and sports a market capitalization topping $435 billion, said its shares represent an attractive investment opportunity.

J&J shares fell 2.6% Tuesday amid a broad market selloff and are down about 6% for the year to date.

The company said its net debt is at its lowest level in five years, and that it doesn't plan to take on any debt to fund the buyback program, which has no expiration date.

J&J bought about 5.4 million of its shares during the second quarter, but those purchases were part of a systematic plan to meet the needs of the company's compensation programs.

Shares of J&J rose 0.7% to $162.43 in light premarket trading.

 

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 14, 2022 07:03 ET (11:03 GMT)

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