Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $3.99 Million Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,146 shares of the company’s stock after selling 358 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth about $47,000. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth about $48,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $190.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Argus set a $210.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $167.00 to $206.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Loop Capital set a $190.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.05.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $206.07 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $206.94. The company has a market capitalization of $496.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 32.73%. The firm had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.