Sandy Spring Bank Sells 343 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Sandy Spring Bank decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,587 shares of the company’s stock after selling 343 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $15,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 6.8% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.3% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 185,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,996,000 after purchasing an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $163.01 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $156.15 and a 200 day moving average of $156.30. The stock has a market cap of $392.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on JNJ. Bank of America raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, 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 corporate insiders.

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.