SFE Investment Counsel Reduces Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

SFE Investment Counsel trimmed its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 420 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 245,340,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,078,885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,815,655 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 141,886,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,178,548,000 after purchasing an additional 803,013 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,428,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,154,022,000 after purchasing an additional 805,831 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,189,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,046,449,000 after purchasing an additional 328,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.7% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 11,751,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,919,726,000 after acquiring an additional 310,473 shares in the last quarter. 67.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on JNJ. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday, February 6th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Atlantic Securities lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, insider James D. Swanson sold 1,062 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,425,191.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $158.91 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $159.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.20. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $150.11 and a 52 week high of $183.35.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 22nd. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 94.56%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

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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.