Legal & General Group Plc Sells 4,603,436 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,509,433 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,603,436 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for approximately 0.7% of Legal & General Group Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.77% of Johnson & Johnson worth $2,676,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $153.03 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $368.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.76. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.