MQS Management LLC Invests $669,000 in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $669,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after buying an additional 6,332 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 48.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 43,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,215,000 after purchasing an additional 14,118 shares during the period. New World Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 10.9% in the first quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 26.3% during the first quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE JNJ opened at $190.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.25. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $194.48. The firm has a market cap of $458.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 32.73% and a net margin of 27.26%.The company had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.05.

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.