Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 79,151 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,555,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 79,151 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 0.5% of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $252,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,832,000 after buying an additional 3,437,397 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,244,862 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% during 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 59.0% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 1st quarter valued at $331,178,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on JNJ. Daiwa America lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 research note on Saturday, September 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $154.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $370.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $143.13 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.10.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors 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 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.