Gould Asset Management LLC CA Sells 538 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Gould Asset Management LLC CA cut its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,749 shares of the company’s stock after selling 538 shares during the period. Gould Asset Management LLC CA’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,620,000 after acquiring an additional 498,647 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,061,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,112,000 after acquiring an additional 26,982 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,436,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,301,000 after acquiring an additional 12,867 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,396,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,198,000 after acquiring an additional 200,193 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,306,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $670,726,000 after acquiring an additional 120,891 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ stock opened at $144.61 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $154.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $348.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.68%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson 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.