Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Sells 6,059 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 176,681 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,059 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 1.3% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $28,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,764,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the first 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,744,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,751 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,100,427,000 after purchasing an additional 754,200 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,921,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829,257 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on JNJ. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Daiwa America cut Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.31.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $161.46 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $162.59 and a 200-day moving average of $154.48. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The company has a market capitalization of $388.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.