Healthcare Products Giant, Johnson & Johnson, Declares Split

During regular trading today Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) announced a two for one stock split on its common stock payable on or about June 12, 2001 for all shareholders on record as of May 22, 2001. Furthermore, JNJ will be increasing quarterly share dividends by 12.5%. These events were first announced at the Company's Annual Shareholder meeting held earlier this morning.

Cash dividends of $.72 (split-adjusted) are payable June 12, 2001 to shareholders of record as of May 22, 2001. This marks the 39th consecutive year of dividend increases by JNJ.

Johnson & Johnson currently has approximately 1.40 billion outstanding shares, 1.38 billion in the float, and 2.16 billion shares are authorized for issuance to the public. This is Johnson & Johnson's sixth stock split, the last being a 2-for-1 in 1996.

This split comes on the heals of a bright earnings season for JNJ. The company reported first quarter results on April 17, showing a net profit of $1.5 billion, which is a 14.2% increase over the 1st quarter results from 2000. EPS beat analyst expectations by two cents.

Johnson & Johnson is currently a Splittrader.com candidate. We will be monitoring trading activity for the duration of the split run so please check back for updates.

JNJ Shares are currently up $1.52 to $95.52 in recent mid-day trading. Volume is moderate at 3.7 million; the three-month average is 4.75 million, with a 52-week trading range of 80.50 to 105.94.

About the Company:

Johnson & Johnson manufactures and sells a broad range of products in the health care field in many countries of the world. The worldwide business is divided into three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical and Professional. (Company Press Release)

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