Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Lowers Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,368 shares of the company’s stock after selling 260 shares during the period. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $161.14 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $157.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $388.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.