Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Peachtree Investment Partners LLC

Peachtree Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,582 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,116 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 0.5% of Peachtree Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,723,000 after acquiring an additional 329,473 shares during the period. United Bank grew 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 worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 285,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,229,000 after purchasing an additional 21,180 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1,960.4% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 46,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,597,000 after buying an additional 44,600 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 13.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,624,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,322,000 after buying an additional 192,826 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:JNJ opened at $150.47 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $159.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.66. The company has a market capitalization of $362.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on JNJ. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

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.