Alaethes Wealth LLC Decreases Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Alaethes Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,877 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,514 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,590,000 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. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter worth $31,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 528.6% in the 4th quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. now owns 308 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday. Seven research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ stock opened at $164.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The company has a market cap of $394.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $161.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.20.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.