Souders Financial Advisors Purchases 177 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Souders Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,272 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $213,000. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,980,000 after buying an additional 111,570 shares in the last quarter. ASB Consultores LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.2% in the third quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 5,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 18.7% in the third quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 9.7% in the third quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 6,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $165.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $397.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $152.11 and a 200-day moving average of $156.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted 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 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 currently owned by company insiders.

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.