Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Has $59.16 Million Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 409,044 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,555 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $59,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 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. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $157.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $378.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $158.35 and a 200-day moving average of $154.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a boost 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 presently 57.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.