Argent Advisors Inc. Purchases 354 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,191 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 0.9% of Argent Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’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 value of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $162.94 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. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $155.37 and a 200-day moving average of $156.26. The firm has a market cap of $392.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 3.04%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Leerink Partners cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

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.