Bell Asset Management Ltd Decreases Holdings in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Bell Asset Management Ltd lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 33.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,871 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,915 shares during the period. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Clark Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 51.6% in the second quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 8,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares in the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 23,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 234,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,566 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.0% during the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 73,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,164,000 after buying an additional 4,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.4% during the first quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 16,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,817,000 after buying an additional 2,005 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $207.75 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $190.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.75. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $207.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $500.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%.The company had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 50.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total value of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,652,491.53. This 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 at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on JNJ. Loop Capital set a $190.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Guggenheim upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $167.00 to $206.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus set a $210.00 price target on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.05.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.