Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,811,564 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,452 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $276,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,877,174,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter worth about $1,369,188,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 15,040.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,420,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,512,000 after acquiring an additional 7,371,687 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,047,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,209,060,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 159.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,159,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $635,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557,388 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $201.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $486.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.40. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $207.81.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%. Analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $206.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Daiwa America upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $176.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $203.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.15.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.