BLB&B Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

BLB&B Advisors LLC reduced its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,929 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,941 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $9,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at $47,000. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at $48,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at $52,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $189.05 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $183.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.32. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $194.48. The firm has a market cap of $455.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 50.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. HSBC lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Loop Capital set a $190.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $203.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.05.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president directly 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 at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.