Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 15.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 240,605 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,908 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $35,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JNJ. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 528.6% in the fourth quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. now owns 308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $164.16 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $168.85. The business’s 50-day moving average is $161.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid 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 (DPR) is 30.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.