Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Sells 450 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 42,838 shares of the company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.6% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $6,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,832,000 after buying an additional 3,437,397 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,884,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,826,000 after buying an additional 3,244,862 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $980,579,000 after acquiring an additional 2,489,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $331,178,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This trade represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $153.99 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average of $161.35 and a 200-day moving average of $156.02. The company has a market cap of $370.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.