LS Investment Advisors LLC Has $2.55 Million Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,742 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 353 shares during the quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth $765,000. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 183,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,008,000 after buying an additional 22,943 shares during the last quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.6% in the first quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 59,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.6% during the first quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,455,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Finally, Smart Money Group LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 31.3% during the 1st quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 5,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on JNJ. Daiwa America lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.00.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $156.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $162.96 and a 200-day moving average of $155.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The firm has a market cap of $377.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.