AMF Tjanstepension AB Sells 281,367 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

AMF Tjanstepension AB decreased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 66.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,894 shares of the company’s stock after selling 281,367 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $20,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,980,000 after acquiring an additional 111,570 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,723,000 after acquiring an additional 329,473 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% in the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after acquiring an additional 3,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Thornton Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.7% in the third quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC now owns 3,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Citigroup lowered their price target 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, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $166.81 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. 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 fifty day moving average price of $152.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.28.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current 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 issued 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 was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

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.