Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 364,635 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,610 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $59,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 87,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,198,000 after acquiring an additional 26,869 shares in the last quarter. Concentric Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% in the third quarter. Concentric Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,196,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.6% during the third quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 107,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,349,000 after purchasing an additional 4,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,560,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,225,206,000 after buying an additional 550,760 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on JNJ. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $155.17 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $373.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $168.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. 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 71.78%.

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.