Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Cuts Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,840 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,088 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.6% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $33,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after buying an additional 3,391,657 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,884,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244,862 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $980,579,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth approximately $331,178,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $159.56 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $384.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.30. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.