Stack Financial Management Inc Decreases Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Stack Financial Management Inc lessened its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 107,610 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,080 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 1.9% of Stack Financial Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Stack Financial Management Inc’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $16,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,620,000 after purchasing an additional 498,647 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,061,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,112,000 after acquiring an additional 26,982 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,436,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,301,000 after acquiring an additional 12,867 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,396,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,198,000 after acquiring an additional 200,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,306,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $670,726,000 after buying an additional 120,891 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective 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, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Seven 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $146.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $155.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.23. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97. The stock has a market cap of $353.85 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 29.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

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