Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Golden State Equity Partners

Golden State Equity Partners decreased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,937 shares of the company’s stock after selling 989 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,832,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437,397 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,884,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244,862 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,579,000 after buying an additional 2,489,925 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at approximately $331,178,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. TD Securities cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.5 %

JNJ opened at $159.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $168.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $163.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.35.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.46% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.78%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.