Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Torray Investment Partners LLC

Torray Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,114 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 2.3% of Torray Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Torray Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $16,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JNJ. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,980,000 after buying an additional 111,570 shares during the period. ASB Consultores LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 5,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 18.7% in the third quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.7% during the third quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 6,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.1 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $165.22 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $397.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.19.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, 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 transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Company 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.