Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Sells 7,405 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 169,276 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,405 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 1.1% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $24,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 425,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,985,000 after acquiring an additional 52,997 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth $213,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth about $226,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 4,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on JNJ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE:JNJ opened at $156.18 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $168.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $376.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $147.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.04.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.35%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.59%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.