Atom Investors LP Cuts Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Atom Investors LP cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 58.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 27,622 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,563 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter valued at about $210,000. Sage Capital Advisors llc boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the second quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 42,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,254,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.3% in the second quarter. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,693,000 after buying an additional 878 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 3,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,320,000 after acquiring an additional 7,227 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $155.01 on Monday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $168.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $373.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.67.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.