Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Sells 2,483 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 71,481 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,483 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $11,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 16,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,508,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Gould Asset Management LLC CA increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% in the third quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 3,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 9.5% during the third quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 33,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,162,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the third quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA now owns 58,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,086 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JNJ shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC raised Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $149.85 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $143.13 and a fifty-two week high of $175.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $360.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.93.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.92%.

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.