Vawter Financial Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vawter Financial Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,439 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the quarter. Vawter Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after buying an additional 1,831,751 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,100,427,000 after acquiring an additional 754,200 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,829,257 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,014,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,171,357,000 after purchasing an additional 437,637 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $153.99 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $161.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.02. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $370.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.72 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 71.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.94.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson 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.