Nuveen Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,716,377 shares of the company’s stock after selling 454,728 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,260,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $453,000. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s 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 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. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $148.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $357.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.14. 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 (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

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.