Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in Q2, owning 116,816 shares valued at approximately $17.84 million.
• Johnson & Johnson recently reported an EPS of $2.26 and a revenue of $24.02 billion for the last quarter, highlighting a strong net margin of 25%.
• The company's board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $5.20 and a yield of 2.7%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,816 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,903 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $17,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Apexium Financial LP raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 23,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,978,000 after buying an additional 2,310 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 234,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,842,000 after buying an additional 6,566 shares in the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 74,132 shares of the company's stock worth $12,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 73,350 shares of the company's stock worth $12,164,000 after purchasing an additional 4,816 shares during the period. Finally, Absher Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 215,584 shares of the company's stock worth $35,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,469 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $190.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $459.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.40. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $178.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.76. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $192.10.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the 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 trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $198.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Guggenheim raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $167.00 to $206.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.94.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JNJ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.