VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes $157.61 Million Position in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,031,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $157,608,000. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 1.1% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth $1,369,188,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,182,464 shares of the company's stock worth $3,844,580,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842,582 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1,382.0% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,030,084 shares of the company's stock worth $502,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,825,626 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 159.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,159,260 shares of the company's stock worth $635,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557,388 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth $401,420,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $193.27 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $180.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $194.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $465.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.40.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 33.08%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $213.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Argus set a $210.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.88.

Insider Activity

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

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.

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