Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,775 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,224 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 16,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,508,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% during the third quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 34,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,342,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,164,000. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.7% during the third quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Harvey Investment Co. LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 9.3% during the third quarter. Harvey Investment Co. LLC now owns 218,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,032,000 after purchasing an additional 18,630 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the firm’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 completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the firm’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 completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Raymond James increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 4.5 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $151.16 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $364.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.55. 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 $154.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.11. 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 data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.68%.

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.