Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Cuts Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,253 shares of the company’s stock after selling 528 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,832,000 after buying an additional 3,437,397 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,884,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,826,000 after acquiring an additional 3,244,862 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $980,579,000 after acquiring an additional 2,489,925 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $331,178,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,751 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $155.17 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $160.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $373.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This trade represents a 22.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.