Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 194,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,038 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 0.8% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $31,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JNJ. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,884,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,826,000 after buying an additional 3,244,862 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,453,978,000 after buying an additional 3,139,499 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,579,000 after buying an additional 2,489,925 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at about $331,178,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831,751 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Daiwa America cut Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.4 %

JNJ opened at $162.85 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.77. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.