Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Sells 5,453 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC cut its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 13.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,089 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,453 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $5,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Meridian Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,626,000. Lmcg Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 32.7% in the third quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 87,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,125,000 after acquiring an additional 21,471 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.3% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 61,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,998,000 after purchasing an additional 4,174 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC now owns 3,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trajan Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,341 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Daiwa America cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $154.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $161.35 and its 200 day moving average is $156.10.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.78%.

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.