Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,637 shares of the company’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,607,414,000 after acquiring an additional 54,326,454 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,962,000 after acquiring an additional 4,521,062 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $4,609,399,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,189,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,046,449,000 after purchasing an additional 328,297 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 61.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,287,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,868,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278,512 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on JNJ. HSBC upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $145.74 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $156.32 and a 200 day moving average of $155.68. The company has a market capitalization of $351.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.53. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.13 and a 1-year high of $175.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 29.68%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.