Swiss National Bank Purchases 8,900 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,143,707 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 0.8% of Swiss National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Swiss National Bank owned 0.30% of Johnson & Johnson worth $1,157,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 24,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $520,000. Alpha Family Trust bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 24,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Daiwa America lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 22.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $154.00 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $168.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $161.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.10. The company has a market cap of $370.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly 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. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The firm had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.