Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 197,850 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,019,024 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 197,850 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.25% of Johnson & Johnson worth $879,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,626,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 26.3% in the first quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the first 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. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% in the first quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares during the period. Finally, NTV Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% in the first quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 36,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,695,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Securities lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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. Seven equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.4 %

JNJ stock opened at $162.02 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $389.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.30 and a 200-day moving average of $154.18.

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. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors 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 3.06%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.