Haverford Trust Co Trims Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Haverford Trust Co reduced its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,166,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,848 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up 1.7% of Haverford Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $168,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,980,000 after acquiring an additional 111,570 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after purchasing an additional 329,473 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $365,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22.1% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,957,000 after acquiring an additional 10,439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on JNJ. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ stock opened at $163.40 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $393.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $156.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.17. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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 34.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. Analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

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.