Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 1,244 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,791 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,244 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,187,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,630,216,000 after acquiring an additional 547,714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 4.3 %

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $153.03 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.75 and a 200-day moving average of $155.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $368.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

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.