Helen Saulnier 
Bank of Nova Scotia cut its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 761,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 382,601 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $135,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 238,141,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,205,749,000 after purchasing an additional 3,358,478 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 64.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 6,501,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,151,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,547,378 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,653,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,179,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,805,632 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 11,402,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,020,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,500 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 4,345,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $770,065,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,260 shares during the period. 68.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 16,410 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.42, for a total value of $2,845,822.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,366,753.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 16,410 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.42, for a total value of $2,845,822.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,366,753.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thibaut Mongon sold 35,246 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $6,033,410.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 40,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,869,966.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,795 shares of company stock worth $20,230,174 in the last quarter. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Johnson & Johnson Price Performance
JNJ opened at $171.91 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $155.72 and a 1 year high of $186.69. The firm has a market cap of $449.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.57.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 18th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.06. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 19.95%. The business had revenue of $23.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.
Johnson & Johnson declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, September 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 22nd will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 21st. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 62.95%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Atlantic Securities decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 19th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $192.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 19th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 21st. Bank of America decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $178.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.25.
Johnson & Johnson Profile
Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches and develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company’s Consumer Health segment offers baby care products under the JOHNSON’S and AVEENO Baby brands; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; skin health/beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DR.
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