Red Wave Investments LLC Cuts Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Red Wave Investments LLC reduced its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,182 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Red Wave Investments LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $460,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Knuff & Co LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the third quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Corepath Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Corepath Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $163.81 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $149.33 and a 200-day moving average of $155.88. The stock has a market cap of $394.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JNJ. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.