Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Sells 3,754 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 106,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,754 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 1.6% of Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $15,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 228.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,389,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,223,000 after buying an additional 2,356,359 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,721,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,040,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,968,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,748 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,755,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $162.75 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $150.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.97. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The company has a market cap of $391.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is 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.