Wesleyan Assurance Society Decreases Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wesleyan Assurance Society lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,015 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,398 shares during the period. Wesleyan Assurance Society’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $11,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 54.4% during the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 478,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,242,000 after purchasing an additional 168,616 shares during the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $3,326,000. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 142,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,580,000 after acquiring an additional 27,035 shares during the period. Vivaldi Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 3,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, St. Clair Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $3,105,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $152.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $366.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.80. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 57.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.88.

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.