Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 48.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,265 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,132 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after buying an additional 7,110 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,996,000 after acquiring an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.3 %

JNJ stock opened at $161.14 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $388.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $157.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.14. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

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.