Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,983 shares of the company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,996,000 after acquiring an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,858,543,000 after acquiring an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $69,859,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $153.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $369.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

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.