S&CO Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

S&CO Inc. decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,361 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,435 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.9% of S&CO Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $28,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $154.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $161.35 and its 200 day moving average is $156.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.