EPG Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

EPG Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,664 shares of the company’s stock after selling 782 shares during the period. EPG Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.3 %

JNJ opened at $154.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $371.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $158.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.47. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.82.

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.