Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,604 shares of the company’s stock after selling 532 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after acquiring an additional 3,139,499 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,751 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,100,427,000 after purchasing an additional 754,200 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,921,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,014,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,171,357,000 after buying an additional 437,637 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.1 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $158.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $381.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $168.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.75.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 71.78%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

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.