MV Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

MV Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,097 shares of the company’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Allianz SE purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,020,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 11,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Intrust Bank NA grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 20,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,927,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $163.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $394.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.21. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.