Vista Investment Management Sells 245 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Vista Investment Management lessened its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,719 shares of the company’s stock after selling 245 shares during the period. Vista Investment Management’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,275,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $42,901,000. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 136,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,732,000 after buying an additional 24,969 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 478,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,242,000 after buying an additional 168,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth about $3,326,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on JNJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners lowered Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Eleven research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:JNJ opened at $153.58 on Wednesday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week high of $169.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $155.87 and its 200-day moving average is $153.80. The firm has a market cap of $369.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. Equities analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.