Bank of Nova Scotia Raises Stake in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 29.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 778,643 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 175,272 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $118,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,047,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,209,060,000 after buying an additional 3,085,180 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,609,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,227,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,877,174,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,131,723,000 after purchasing an additional 130,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,802,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,635,832,000 after purchasing an additional 620,039 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Daiwa America raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $198.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Finally, Loop Capital set a $190.00 price target on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.15.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $201.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $486.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $207.81. The business has a fifty day moving average of $194.05 and a 200 day moving average of $175.56.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.19%.

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.