Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Stock Holdings Lessened by Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC

Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,262 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,373 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 2.5% of Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $10,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 67.9% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 48,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,978,000 after buying an additional 19,509 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after acquiring an additional 431,205 shares during the period. Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $407,000. Everstar Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $428,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Bank of America upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped 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. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $163.63 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.07. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The stock has a market cap of $394.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. 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 announced its earnings results 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. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

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.