Johnson & Johnson $JNJ Shares Sold by Verity Asset Management Inc.

Verity Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,620 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,078 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at about $47,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at about $48,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,652,491.53. The trade was a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $189.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $455.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $183.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.75.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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 issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 50.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Argus set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $198.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $167.00 to $206.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.05.

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.