Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. reduced its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,558 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,962,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,800,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,120 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,943,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,131,723,000 after purchasing an additional 130,645 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,802,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,635,832,000 after purchasing an additional 620,039 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,899,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,133,602,000 after purchasing an additional 712,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,282,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,031,955,000 after buying an additional 448,666 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 price target on Johnson & Johnson and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Argus set a $210.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $213.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Three equities 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.05.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE JNJ opened at $186.50 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.63. 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 firm has a market cap of $449.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $194.48.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

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

Johnson & Johnson Profile

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.