Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Sells 264 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,631 shares of the company’s stock after selling 264 shares during the quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meridian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter worth $1,626,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.3% in the first quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the first quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC now owns 47,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,464,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% in the first quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NTV Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 36,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,695,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $164.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.59. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The company has a market capitalization of $395.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.02%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.