Willis Investment Counsel Has $55.01 Million Stake in Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Willis Investment Counsel boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 360,134 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28,043 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 3.2% of Willis Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $55,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GFG Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at $65,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. HSBC raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Scotiabank started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $167.00 to $206.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $190.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.05.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE JNJ opened at $203.29 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $204.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $489.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $187.74 and its 200-day moving average is $171.22.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.19%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.