Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Skyline Advisors Inc.

Skyline Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 21.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,058 shares of the company’s stock after selling 565 shares during the quarter. Skyline Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MRP Capital Investments LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $742,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,106,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNJ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated 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 note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Benchmark raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.88.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:JNJ opened at $153.12 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.67. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $368.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced 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 net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is presently 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.