Valley Forge Investment Consultants Inc. ADV Trims Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Valley Forge Investment Consultants Inc. ADV cut its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 60.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 308 shares of the company’s stock after selling 468 shares during the quarter. Valley Forge Investment Consultants Inc. ADV’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $45,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 11,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,621,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Intrust Bank NA raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 20,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,927,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Biondo Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ opened at $163.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $158.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.21. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The firm has a market cap of $394.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the 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 represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’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 transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.