Sapient Capital LLC Purchases 2,594 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Sapient Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 57,784 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,594 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,047,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,209,060,000 after buying an additional 3,085,180 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,609,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,227,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter worth about $4,877,174,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,802,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,635,832,000 after purchasing an additional 620,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,951,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,894,979,000 after purchasing an additional 52,074 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $203.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Argus set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $190.00 price objective on Johnson & Johnson and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.25.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $206.93 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $215.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $200.25 and its 200 day moving average is $181.93. The company has a market cap of $498.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.36.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $24.02 billion during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 32.73%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 50.19%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.