Marietta Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Marietta Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,412 shares of the company’s stock after selling 437 shares during the period. Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 90,144.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,386,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,607,414,000 after purchasing an additional 54,326,454 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 42,224,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,962,000 after purchasing an additional 4,521,062 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $4,609,399,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 61.0% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,287,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,868,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278,512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.5 %

JNJ stock opened at $147.91 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.63. 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 market cap of $356.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.68%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related 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 value of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.