Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Sells 1,536 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,892 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,536 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 1.1% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clark Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 51.6% during the second quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 8,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares during the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% during the first quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 23,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% in the second quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 234,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,566 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.0% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 73,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,164,000 after acquiring an additional 4,816 shares during the period. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.4% in the first quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 16,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $203.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Argus set a $210.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.05.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE JNJ opened at $186.23 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.29. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $194.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $448.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%.The business had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 50.19%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total value 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. The trade was a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.