Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Freedom Day Solutions LLC

Freedom Day Solutions LLC lowered its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,618 shares of the company’s stock after selling 906 shares during the period. Freedom Day Solutions LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,607,414,000 after acquiring an additional 54,326,454 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $4,609,399,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,458,962,000 after purchasing an additional 4,521,062 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 61.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,287,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,868,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 17,087.7% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,913,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,348,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $147.93 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $143.13 and a one year high of $175.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $156.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $356.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.