Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Lowers Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lowered its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,827 shares of the company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $14,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $166.81 on Friday. 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 $401.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $152.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.28.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.