Clarius Group LLC Buys 2,303 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Clarius Group LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,395 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,303 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the second quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 153,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 9.3% during the first quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 13,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 748,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,071,000 after acquiring an additional 6,836 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 903,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,050,000 after buying an additional 161,687 shares during the period. Finally, Tekla Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Tekla Capital Management LLC now owns 721,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,876,000 after buying an additional 82,100 shares during the period. 68.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 18th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $179.00 to $172.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 18th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. They set a “hold” rating and a $175.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.19.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $149.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $360.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.58. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $144.95 and a 52 week high of $181.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $154.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.29.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 17th. The company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.14. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 36.32% and a return on equity of 37.14%. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 21st will be paid a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 20th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 35.34%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Consumer Health segment provides skin health/beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DR. CI:LABO, NEUTROGENA, and OGX brands; baby care products under the JOHNSON'S and AVEENO Baby brands; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; TYLENOL acetaminophen products; SUDAFED cold, flu, and allergy products; BENADRYL and ZYRTEC allergy products; MOTRIN IB ibuprofen products; NICORETTE smoking cessation products; and PEPCID acid reflux products.