Blackhill Capital Inc. Sells 70,173 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Blackhill Capital Inc. cut its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 48.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 73,327 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70,173 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 0.5% of Blackhill Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Blackhill Capital Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after purchasing an additional 329,473 shares during the period. Invst LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 394.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,668,000 after purchasing an additional 8,207 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.1% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,180,000 after acquiring an additional 4,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.67.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In related 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 value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, 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.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 2.0 %

JNJ opened at $151.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.21. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The stock has a market cap of $365.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

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.