Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stake in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,388 shares of the company’s stock after selling 553 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.9% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GFG Capital LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth $35,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter worth $47,000. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at $48,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at $65,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total value of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of 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. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.05.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of JNJ opened at $186.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $448.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $194.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $183.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.29.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

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.