WASHINGTON TRUST Co Decreases Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 126,690 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,304 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $20,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Summit Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $159.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $384.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $163.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.35. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.46% and a net margin of 19.14%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.93.

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.