Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Middleton & Co. Inc. MA

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA decreased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,364 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,057 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $35,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $167.08 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The stock has a market cap of $402.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.