Principal Securities Inc. Grows Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 13.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,881 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,232 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,453,978,000 after buying an additional 3,139,499 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,751 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,100,427,000 after purchasing an additional 754,200 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,921,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,014,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,171,357,000 after purchasing an additional 437,637 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $160.13 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The stock has a market cap of $385.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.44. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 71.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. Daiwa America downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Securities lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.93.

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.