Meeder Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 88.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,445 shares of the company’s stock after selling 180,717 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,755,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,088 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,064,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,763 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $4,390,037,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on JNJ. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $163.63 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $158.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.07.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 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.