Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Position Cut by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 860,575 shares of the company’s stock after selling 84,408 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $125,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Asset Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the second quarter. Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 17,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,528,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% in the second quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $758,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. TPG Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 45,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,712,000 after acquiring an additional 10,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction 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 approximately $3,131,683.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 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 lowered their price target for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $164.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.20. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $168.85. The firm has a market cap of $394.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

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.