Smith Group Asset Management LLC Sells 4,873 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 110,423 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,873 shares during the quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $15,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,988,000 after acquiring an additional 7,110 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,996,000 after acquiring an additional 9,309 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% in the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,858,543,000 after acquiring an additional 102,502 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $69,859,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Barclays lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $152.09 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $168.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $147.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $366.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.51.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 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.