Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Trims Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 135,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $21,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after buying an additional 1,831,751 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,100,427,000 after acquiring an additional 754,200 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,921,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,829,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,014,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,171,357,000 after acquiring an additional 437,637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six equities 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.93.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

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

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $160.88 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $163.41 and its 200 day moving average is $155.10. 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 company has a market capitalization of $387.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.46% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

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.