Vawter Financial Ltd. Reduces Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vawter Financial Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,289 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Vawter Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,832,000 after buying an additional 3,437,397 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 228.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,389,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,223,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356,359 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at approximately $225,040,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,968,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,748 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.7 %

JNJ stock opened at $162.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $390.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.93 and a 200-day moving average of $155.90. 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 has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson 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.