Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Decreases Stake in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC lessened its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 86.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,250 shares during the quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth about $1,369,188,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1,382.0% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,030,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,509,000 after buying an additional 2,825,626 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 159.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,159,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $635,327,000 after buying an additional 2,557,388 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at approximately $401,420,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 14.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,903,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,803,042,000 after acquiring an additional 2,129,612 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $186.50 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $194.48. 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 company has a market capitalization of $449.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $184.25 and its 200 day moving average is $168.70.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be given 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 dividend yield of 2.8%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was 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 owned 178,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Daiwa America raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Guggenheim upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $167.00 to $206.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $190.00 price target on Johnson & Johnson and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.05.

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.