Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,768,019 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,209 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.07% of Johnson & Johnson worth $255,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in 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 acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the 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 directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Raymond James decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $155.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $374.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $158.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.44. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week 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.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.84%.

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.