Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Sells 2,132 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC reduced its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 48.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,265 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,132 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after buying an additional 329,473 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth about $721,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 87,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,198,000 after purchasing an additional 26,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.7% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,891,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,662,000 after purchasing an additional 205,789 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $161.14 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $157.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.14. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % 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 corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson 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.