Viewpoint Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Viewpoint Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,326 shares of the company’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for approximately 1.5% of Viewpoint Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 75,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,758,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 82.8% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $1,458,000. RAM Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 18,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,102 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

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

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $147.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $175.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $156.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 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 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

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.