Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,481 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,483 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $11,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JNJ. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 16,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,508,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Gould Asset Management LLC CA boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the third quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 3,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Monte Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 33,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA now owns 58,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,086 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America cut 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 note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the 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 Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $149.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $360.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.