Kraft Davis & Associates LLC Increases Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Kraft Davis & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,592 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at about $765,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 46.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 101,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,015,000 after buying an additional 32,244 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel Investment Group purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth about $14,379,000. Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 48,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,623,000 after acquiring an additional 3,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.7% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 17,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $152.97 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $143.13 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $160.83 and a 200 day moving average of $156.19. The stock has a market cap of $368.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 71.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This trade represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.