Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. Lowers Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. decreased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 136,185 shares of the company’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 1.4% of Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $19,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on JNJ. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $156.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $168.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $147,220. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.