Lafayette Investments Inc. Trims Stake in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Lafayette Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,735 shares of the company’s stock after selling 301 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 1.5% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. GFG Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter worth approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price target on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.06.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ stock opened at $191.93 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $462.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $194.48.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 33.08% and a net margin of 27.26%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,652,491.53. This represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.