Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 85.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 637,890 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,705,273 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $92,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $135,043,000. Logan Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,990,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 12,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $984,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of JNJ opened at $153.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $157.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.18. 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 capitalization of $370.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on JNJ. Raymond James reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.82.

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.