Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Cuts Holdings in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI reduced its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 96,313 shares of the company’s stock after selling 249 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $14,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,369,188,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,844,580,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842,582 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings 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. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter valued at about $401,420,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus set a $210.00 price target on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $213.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $198.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.05.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of JNJ opened at $192.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $463.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $194.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $181.99 and a 200 day moving average of $165.84.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 33.08%. The business had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. On average, 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 $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.