Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc.

Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,949 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,037 shares during the quarter. Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. MRP Capital Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $742,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson 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 transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $153.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $369.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $155.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.80.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.84%.

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.