Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the 1st 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 stake in shares of 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 worth $2,744,979,000 after buying an additional 1,831,751 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,100,427,000 after purchasing an additional 754,200 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,921,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 437,637 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $153.99 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $370.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $168.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $161.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.02.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 71.78%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.