Ascent Group LLC Sells 919 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ascent Group LLC trimmed its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,885 shares of the company’s stock after selling 919 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 3,139,499 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,831,751 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,100,427,000 after acquiring an additional 754,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,921,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,829,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $161.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $162.15 and its 200-day moving average is $154.21. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $388.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 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.