Zuckerman Investment Group LLC Sells 559 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,477 shares of the company’s stock after selling 559 shares during the period. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,339,878,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,666,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after buying an additional 1,729,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 11,930,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,698,984,000 after buying an additional 1,660,458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $149.02 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $159.50 and a 200 day moving average of $155.37. 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 (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 net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Leerink Partners cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.67.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.