Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,704 shares during the quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. 4J Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. 4J Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. My Personal CFO LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. My Personal CFO LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 3,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookmont Capital Management increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Brookmont Capital Management now owns 14,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,328,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America cut their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Raymond James raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $144.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.14. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $143.13 and a twelve month high of $175.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $348.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.43% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.68%.

Johnson & Johnson Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.