Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 100,138 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,358 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 0.8% of Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $14,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Naviter Wealth LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 24,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,530,000 after purchasing an additional 4,665 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $320,000. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 53,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,779,000 after purchasing an additional 10,895 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 9,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $744,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $166.81 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $152.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

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.