Clarus Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Clarus Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,369 shares of the company’s stock after selling 237 shares during the quarter. Clarus Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 14.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 425,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,985,000 after purchasing an additional 52,997 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $209,000. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 4,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 988,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,181,000 after purchasing an additional 41,082 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $157.24 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.00. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $168.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $378.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.