Ashford Capital Management Inc. Sells 100 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ashford Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $484,000. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 34,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,994,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 15,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $140,275,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $42,901,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $152.44 on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The stock has a market cap of $366.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $156.06 and a 200-day moving average of $153.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.65 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is currently 57.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.88.

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.