Sherman Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,499 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the third quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corepath Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Corepath Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $167.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $151.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.08. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio 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.