Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Has $1.28 Million Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lessened its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 258 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citizens & Northern Corp boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 16,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,643,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Outfitter Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC now owns 16,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $164.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.07. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $396.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $159.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.00.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on JNJ. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.21.

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.