Swiss National Bank Sells 343,400 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,800,307 shares of the company’s stock after selling 343,400 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 0.7% of Swiss National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Johnson & Johnson worth $983,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners decreased 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. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % 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.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of JNJ opened at $162.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The firm has a market cap of $392.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $154.23 and its 200-day moving average is $156.34.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. 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.