Beck Mack & Oliver LLC Lowers Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC cut its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 249,872 shares of the company’s stock after selling 628 shares during the period. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $36,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,339,878,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,666,460,000 after buying an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,930,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,698,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,458 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 2.3 %

JNJ stock opened at $157.42 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The stock has a market cap of $379.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $159.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.82.

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.