Lafayette Investments Inc. Sells 2,642 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Lafayette Investments Inc. lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,093 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,642 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.6% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 7,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC now owns 6,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TPG Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the third quarter. TPG Advisors LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on JNJ. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Argus lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $210.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.73.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $244.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $589.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.85. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $141.50 and a 1 year high of $246.35.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.34% and a net margin of 28.46%.The company had revenue of $24.28 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 24th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.