Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 50,644 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,652 shares during the quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. Citigroup reduced their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.9 %

JNJ opened at $163.22 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.23. The company has a market cap of $393.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade 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.