Spring Capital Management LLC Buys 337 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Spring Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,241 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 4.6% of Spring Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Spring Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $6,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,884,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244,862 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,834,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,453,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,708,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,579,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,925 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at $331,178,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,780,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,744,979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.93.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $165.86 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $168.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $399.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The business 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 company earned $2.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.