Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Position Trimmed by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 152,320 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,077 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 0.7% of Vestcor Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $22,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Knuff & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $742,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Raymond James cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $162.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $392.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $154.23 and a 200-day moving average of $156.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

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.