Barr E S & Co. Lowers Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Barr E S & Co. trimmed its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 150,509 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,686 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 1.3% of Barr E S & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Barr E S & Co.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $21,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JNJ. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. lifted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,859,000. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ opened at $151.62 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $159.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The firm has a market cap of $365.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.