Saratoga Research & Investment Management Sells 12,087 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management lessened its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 520,352 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,087 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 3.8% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $75,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,723,000 after purchasing an additional 329,473 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 45,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,323,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 557.2% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 51,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,304,000 after acquiring an additional 43,445 shares during the period. Finally, Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $488,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 research analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.33.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ stock opened at $163.63 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $394.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $140.68 and a twelve month high of $169.99. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

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.