Rathbones Group PLC Sells 67,278 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,237,143 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,278 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 1.0% of Rathbones Group PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $180,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citizens & Northern Corp increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the second quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Pine Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $165.52 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $159.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.94. 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 market cap of $398.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted 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 net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The firm 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 posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio 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.