Weaver Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Weaver Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 26.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,370 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,393 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,004,763 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,440,000 after buying an additional 1,265,748 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after acquiring an additional 102,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the third 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. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents 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 insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $153.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $368.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $168.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.

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.