Great Lakes Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 289,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,349 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $41,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $147.22 per share, with a total value of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,220. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $165.86 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $153.86 and a 200 day moving average of $156.29. 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 company has a market capitalization of $399.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced 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 note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.