Balentine LLC Lowers Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Balentine LLC reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 27.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,632 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,116 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,996,000 after buying an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $949,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% during the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,639,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,858,543,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $156.20 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.01. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $168.85. The company has a market capitalization of $376.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.