Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Reduces Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 118,430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,170 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $17,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $453,000. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $151.37 on Monday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $364.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $156.27 and its 200-day moving average is $153.85.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.84%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNJ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs lowered Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Leerink Partners cut shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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.