Capital Wealth Planning LLC Sells 5,461 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 45.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,461 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after buying an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,996,000 after purchasing an additional 9,309 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $949,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 19.6% in the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,667,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on JNJ. Citigroup dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $167.08 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $402.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

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

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.