Financial Counselors Inc. Trims Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Financial Counselors Inc. decreased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,931 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,162 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $24,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $161.14 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The stock has a market cap of $388.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.14.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

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.