B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Invests $72.05 Million in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 444,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,049,000. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 0.7% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.8% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 3,139,499 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,831,751 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,374,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,100,427,000 after buying an additional 754,200 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,147,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,921,565,000 after buying an additional 1,829,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,014,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,171,357,000 after buying an additional 437,637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $154.77 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $372.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.16. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $22.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.