Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 726,257 shares of the company’s stock after selling 133,383 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 0.8% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $110,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 55.0% during the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 203 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth $48,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 66.4% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladwyn Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at about $71,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on JNJ. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $203.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.55.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.8%

JNJ opened at $211.65 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $196.09 and its 200-day moving average is $177.25. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $212.27. 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 capitalization of $509.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 50.19%.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.