Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Clark Capital Management Group Inc.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lessened its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 409,044 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,555 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $59,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,339,878,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,813,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,235 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,930,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,698,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,458 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $157.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $378.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.82.

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.