Parthenon LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Parthenon LLC reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,527 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,566 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson makes up approximately 2.7% of Parthenon LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $19,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% in the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 255 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on JNJ. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $169.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE JNJ opened at $149.27 on Monday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $143.13 and a 12-month high of $175.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $359.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.55.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.68%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.