Vectors Research Management LLC Has $616,000 Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vectors Research Management LLC cut its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,260 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,248 shares during the quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 158,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,969,000 after purchasing an additional 66,143 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Trajan Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 36,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,302,000 after buying an additional 3,672 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 118,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,166,000 after buying an additional 9,977 shares during the period. Finally, Landing Point Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $319,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $157.42 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.95.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Research analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This 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 company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Raymond James decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.