Townsquare Capital LLC Buys 14,185 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 12.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 123,812 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,185 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $20,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 178.9% during the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 6,708 shares during the period. Shum Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,305,000. Avestar Capital LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 54,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,799,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Prospector Partners LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 66,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,801,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $154.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $372.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $168.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.39.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.94.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.