Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. cut its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,280 shares of the company’s stock after selling 607 shares during the quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 3,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 4,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 16,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,643,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 2,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Daiwa America cut Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $159.10. 7,237,481 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,355,802. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $151.88 and a 200-day moving average of $153.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.39. The firm has a market cap of $382.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 30.92%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.