Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 77,747 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,547,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,747 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up 0.7% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $223,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $419,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $665,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 91,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,278,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Finally, Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,698,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on JNJ. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $163.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.23. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $393.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.