William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. Invests $1.80 Million in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,801,000. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.2% of William B. Walkup & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 528.6% during the fourth quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. now owns 308 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

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

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $161.40 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.15 and a 200-day moving average of $154.16. The stock has a market capitalization 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. 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 has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Daiwa America downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.21.

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.