Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,350,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,138,510 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.26% of Johnson & Johnson worth $995,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 495.4% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 67,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,549,000 after buying an additional 56,352 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the third quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 125,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,570,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at about $8,035,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% during the third quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 484,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,410,000 after purchasing an additional 30,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2,264.8% during the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 822,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,139,000 after purchasing an additional 787,934 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $174.07.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ traded up $0.09 on Friday, hitting $145.54. The company had a trading volume of 4,075,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,121,075. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $148.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.71. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $350.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.