American Trust Sells 2,298 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

American Trust lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,436 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,298 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,446,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 717,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,422,000 after buying an additional 3,938 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 251.7% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 351,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,061,000 after acquiring an additional 251,420 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,731,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,391,000 after acquiring an additional 117,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 589.2% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 358,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,258,000 after purchasing an additional 306,848 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $162.02 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $168.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $162.50 and a 200 day moving average of $154.21. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $389.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.33 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 30.92%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company 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.