Johnson & Johnson $JNJ Stake Lessened by Ramirez Asset Management Inc.

Ramirez Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 926 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Ramirez Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,962,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,800,371,000 after buying an additional 1,170,120 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,131,723,000 after buying an additional 130,645 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,844,580,000 after buying an additional 4,842,582 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,899,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,133,602,000 after buying an additional 712,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,282,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,031,955,000 after buying an additional 448,666 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. UBS Group set a $198.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $176.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $200.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.94.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $190.66 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $178.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $459.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.40. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $192.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.