Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Decreases Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. cut its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 323,579 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,624 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $46,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth $35,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

JNJ stock opened at $162.94 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $154.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.27. 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 cap of $392.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly 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. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value 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 represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

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.