Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. Sells 971 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,175 shares of the company’s stock after selling 971 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for approximately 3.5% of Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on 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. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $163.63 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $394.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $158.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.13.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% 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 last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.