Taurus Asset Management LLC Sells 936 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Taurus Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 936 shares during the period. Taurus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JNJ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $4,071,642,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,852,000 after buying an additional 3,391,657 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after buying an additional 3,139,499 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $980,579,000 after buying an additional 2,489,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth $331,178,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

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 value of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $165.52 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.94. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $168.85. The company has a market capitalization of $398.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The business had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.21.

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.