Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 511,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,101 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $74,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Swedbank AB raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,980,000 after purchasing an additional 111,570 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,723,000 after buying an additional 329,473 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Second Half Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth about $3,454,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 9,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $163.01 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $156.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.30. 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 cap of $392.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was 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.

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.