Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Wintrust Investments LLC

Wintrust Investments LLC cut its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 43.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,204 shares of the company’s stock after selling 929 shares during the period. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 214,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,034,000 after purchasing an additional 3,169 shares in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 557.1% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 375,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,353,000 after purchasing an additional 318,642 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Essential Planning LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,252,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $162.93 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.34. 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 company has a market cap of $392.27 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 sale 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 Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.