Empirical Finance LLC Sells 1,275 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Empirical Finance LLC reduced its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,159 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 0.7% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $12,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $31,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Leerink Partners reduced 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. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.3 %

JNJ opened at $156.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $376.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $147.40 and its 200 day moving average is $156.04. 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 released 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 74.59%.

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.