Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 724 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. reduced its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,637 shares of the company’s stock after selling 724 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,626,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% during 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 institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $164.11 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.20. The stock 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.

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 firm 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 company earned $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.21.

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.