Argent Trust Co Raises Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Argent Trust Co boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 172,304 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises 1.0% of Argent Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $24,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in 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 during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $1.91 on Thursday, reaching $149.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 551,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,889,586. The company has a market capitalization of $359.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.37.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James cut their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.67.

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.