Ballast Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ballast Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,385 shares of the company’s stock after selling 203 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,988,000 after acquiring an additional 7,110 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,996,000 after purchasing an additional 9,309 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $162.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $392.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $156.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.34. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.