Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 289,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,349 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $41,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $165.86 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $153.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $399.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. 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.