Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,091 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,718 shares during the quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $6,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,657 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,169,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,593,908,000 after buying an additional 975,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $980,579,000 after buying an additional 2,489,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Daiwa America lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen cut their price target on 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.21.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

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

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $166.61 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $168.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $157.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.81.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

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.