Congress Asset Management Co. Trims Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Congress Asset Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,694 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,783 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the second quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Powers Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the second quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the third quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $160.13 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $385.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.44.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.78%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.