E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 1,755 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 12.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,173 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,755 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Citizens & Northern Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $275,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $2,643,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $268,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Pine Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Outfitter Financial LLC boosted 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 worth $2,431,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $167.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $160.38 and a 200-day moving average of $154.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 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.