Marathon Asset Management Ltd Lowers Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,854 shares of the company’s stock after selling 72,481 shares during the period. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $26,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 159,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267 shares during the last quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 5,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Stolper Co lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 9.8% during the first quarter. Stolper Co now owns 32,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,899 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% in the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 326,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,691,000 after acquiring an additional 14,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the first quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 9,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Daiwa America lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen dropped 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 report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $164.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $395.87 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.