Vontobel Holding Ltd. Cuts Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 326,453 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,901 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $47,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on JNJ. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $156.20 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $147.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. 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 has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.35%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.