Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,019,725 shares of the company's stock worth $3,764,852,000 after buying an additional 3,391,657 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings 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 valued at $2,744,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,751 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,100,427,000 after purchasing an additional 754,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,921,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829,257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on JNJ. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Daiwa America lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ traded up $0.01 on Friday, reaching $161.40. 7,545,857 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,146,670. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $388.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $168.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.27.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,683.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.