Johnson & Johnson $JNJ Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can cut its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,192,363 shares of the company’s stock after selling 453,204 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $640,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $213.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $198.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $189.02 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $455.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $183.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.75. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $194.48.

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 company had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 32.73%. Research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.19%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.