Financial Insights Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Financial Insights Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,146 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,234 shares during the quarter. Financial Insights Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Disciplined Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on JNJ. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $158.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,917,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,335,667. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $151.63 and a 200 day moving average of $153.06. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.39. The stock has a market cap of $381.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.