ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 98,924 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,566,607 shares of the company’s stock after selling 98,924 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $239,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clark Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 8,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the period. Apexium Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% during the first quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 23,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,978,000 after buying an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% in the second quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 234,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,566 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 73,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,164,000 after acquiring an additional 4,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 16,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Loop Capital set a $190.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction 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 $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $186.50 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $184.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.80. The firm has a market cap of $449.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $194.48.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

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

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.