Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 167,702 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,657 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 0.8% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $27,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter worth about $43,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $3,131,683.38. This trade represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.4 %

JNJ opened at $153.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $370.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $161.35 and a 200-day moving average of $156.02. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $168.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 71.78%.

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.