Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

by · The Markets Daily

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,604 shares of the company’s stock after selling 532 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased 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 valued at $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares in 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 valued at $2,744,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,751 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,100,427,000 after purchasing an additional 754,200 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,921,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829,257 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,014,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,171,357,000 after buying an additional 437,637 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’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 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 approximately $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.93.

Get Our Latest Analysis on JNJ

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $158.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.75. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The company has a market cap of $381.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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