The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 257,414 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,130,149 shares of the company’s stock after selling 257,414 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.13% of Johnson & Johnson worth $478,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Clark Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 51.6% in the second quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 8,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after buying an additional 3,025 shares in the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 23,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,978,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 234,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,566 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 73,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,164,000 after purchasing an additional 4,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 13.4% during the first quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 16,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE JNJ opened at $206.50 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $207.81. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $497.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.36.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on JNJ. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $206.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.40.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.