Wintrust Investments LLC Sells 929 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Wintrust Investments LLC lessened its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 43.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,204 shares of the company’s stock after selling 929 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Knuff & Co LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% during the third quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Vertex Planning Partners LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James lowered their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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, Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.8 %

JNJ stock opened at $162.93 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $392.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.34. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Company 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.