Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Fiduciary Group LLC

Fiduciary Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,411 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,479 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 1.3% of Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $12,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,755,874,000 after buying an additional 1,154,088 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,064,149,000 after buying an additional 1,004,763 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,440,000 after buying an additional 1,265,748 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,187,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,630,216,000 after buying an additional 547,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,721,355,000 after buying an additional 1,729,281 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reduced 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. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $163.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $156.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.30. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’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 value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. 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.