Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 113,356 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,157,669 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 113,356 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 0.6% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $940,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at $1,369,188,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,844,580,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842,582 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1,382.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,030,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,825,626 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 159.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,159,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $635,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557,388 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth $401,420,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on JNJ. Erste Group Bank raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, October 10th. Guggenheim upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $167.00 to $206.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.05.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $190.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $458.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.40. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $194.48.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.19%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.