Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Purchased by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 14.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,536 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,742 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 0.5% of Essex Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter worth about $1,626,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,428,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC now owns 47,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,464,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $165.86 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $155.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $165.98. The company has a market capitalization of $399.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on JNJ shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.