Johnson & Johnson $JNJ Shares Sold by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Key Points

• Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC has reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.2%, now owning 220,860 shares valued at approximately $33.7 million, making it the company's 22nd largest holding.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Apexium Financial and Avanza Fonder, increased their positions in Johnson & Johnson, indicating a trend of growing interest among institutional investors.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Johnson & Johnson, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. now targeting $200 and Guggenheim increasing their target to $206, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the stock.

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lowered its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 220,860 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,274 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.2% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $33,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Apexium Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% during the first quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 23,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,978,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% in the second quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 234,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,566 shares in the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the first quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 74,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.0% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 73,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,164,000 after purchasing an additional 4,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 13.4% in the first quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 16,984 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Guggenheim upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $167.00 to $206.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.05.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $192.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $463.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.40. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $194.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $181.99 and a 200 day moving average of $165.84.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.08% and a net margin of 27.26%.The business had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.19%.

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.

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