Front Row Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Front Row Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 112 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after purchasing an additional 329,473 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5,447.8% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,773,000 after acquiring an additional 119,797 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 80.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 34,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,514,000 after purchasing an additional 15,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concentric Capital Strategies LP grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 10,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $165.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $399.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released 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 net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on JNJ. Barclays upped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.