Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,161 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,118 shares during the quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,980,000 after buying an additional 111,570 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,723,000 after buying an additional 329,473 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.0% during the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 244,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,552,000 after buying an additional 2,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.0% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 7,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $162.94 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.