Eastern Bank Sells 1,876 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Eastern Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,251 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,876 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after purchasing an additional 6,332 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth about $218,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 48.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 43,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,215,000 after purchasing an additional 14,118 shares in the last quarter. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth about $6,351,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $206.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Erste Group Bank raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.94.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $190.66 on Monday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $192.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $459.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $178.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.78.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. The trade was a 24.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.