Cannell & Spears LLC Lowers Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Cannell & Spears LLC trimmed its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 168,142 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,064 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $24,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.3 %

JNJ stock opened at $163.63 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $394.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, 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. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $158.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.07. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.