Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Position Decreased by Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd.

Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,515 shares of the company’s stock after selling 384 shares during the period. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,390,037,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $1,339,878,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,666,460,000 after buying an additional 1,772,706 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after buying an additional 1,729,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 11,930,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,698,984,000 after buying an additional 1,660,458 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on JNJ. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $157.42 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $379.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.95.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.59%.

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.