Smith Group Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,423 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,873 shares during the quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $15,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,437,397 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 228.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,389,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,359 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,040,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,968,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,748 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.5 %

JNJ opened at $152.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $366.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.51. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $147.67 and a 200-day moving average of $156.07. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.44.

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.