Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $2.73 Million Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,879 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.5 %

JNJ opened at $166.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $399.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.92. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction 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 $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.67.

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.