Vista Investment Partners LLC Sells 573 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vista Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,710 shares of the company’s stock after selling 573 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth $31,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth $35,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% in the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” 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 reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.44.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $150.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $362.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.51. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $168.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.81 and a 200-day moving average of $156.12.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson 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.