Vawter Financial Ltd. Purchases 697 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vawter Financial Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 30.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,013 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the period. Vawter Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth approximately $1,626,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.3% in the first 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 holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,428,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC now owns 47,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,464,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $164.99 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.78. The stock has a market cap of $397.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.52. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.