Old North State Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Old North State Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 14.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 425,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,985,000 after purchasing an additional 52,997 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth approximately $213,000. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the third quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GEM Asset Management LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. GEM Asset Management LLC now owns 3,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on JNJ. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.67.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $153.10 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $168.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.06. The company has a market cap of $368.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.52.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

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.