Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 23,690 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC cut its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 102,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,690 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $15,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meridian Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth about $1,626,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC now owns 47,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,464,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, September 16th. Daiwa America lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $164.16 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $161.30 and a 200-day moving average of $154.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $168.85. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.