Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Westchester Capital Management Inc.

Westchester Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,146 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up about 3.4% of Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $11,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 28,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,092,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 28,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,005,000 after acquiring an additional 5,886 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 262,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,336,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329 shares during the period. Finally, Windle Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,869,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on JNJ shares. SVB Leerink dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $194.00 to $186.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 20th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $164.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.00.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $160.78 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $150.11 and a 1 year high of $183.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.76. The company has a market capitalization of $417.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $24.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.61 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.13% and a net margin of 13.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.66 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 22nd. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James D. Swanson sold 1,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.66, for a total transaction of $164,248.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,191.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

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Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research and development, manufacture and sale of products in the health care field. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Health, Pharmaceutical, and MedTech. The Consumer Health segment includes products focused on personal healthcare used in the Skin Health/Beauty, Over-the-Counter medicines, Baby Care, Oral Care, Women’s Health and Wound Care markets.