Paladin Wealth LLC Lowers Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Paladin Wealth LLC decreased its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Paladin Wealth LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437,397 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 228.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,389,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,359 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth $225,040,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,440,000 after buying an additional 1,265,748 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ opened at $157.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $147.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.00. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $168.85. The company has a market cap of $378.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.35% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,220. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.