Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 88.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,445 shares of the company’s stock after selling 180,717 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 48,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,978,000 after acquiring an additional 19,509 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares during the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $407,000. Everstar Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $428,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $163.63 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.07. The company has a market cap of $394.32 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.