MCF Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

MCF Advisors LLC cut its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,148 shares of the company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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 worth $3,453,978,000 after buying an additional 3,139,499 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in 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 worth $2,744,979,000 after buying an additional 1,831,751 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,100,427,000 after buying an additional 754,200 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during 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 period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,014,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,171,357,000 after acquiring an additional 437,637 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on JNJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Securities lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’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 value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $160.88 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $387.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $168.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $163.41 and a 200 day moving average of $155.10.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during 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%. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

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.