Advisors Preferred LLC Sells 4,384 Shares of Johnson & Johnson $JNJ

Advisors Preferred LLC trimmed its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,384 shares during the quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,502,000 after purchasing an additional 6,332 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. Smart Money Group LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 6,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 26,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,313,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Element Wealth LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Element Wealth LLC now owns 1,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 56,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.81, for a total transaction of $10,041,108.51. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 178,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,652,491.53. This trade represents a 24.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on JNJ. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $213.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $174.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.05.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $186.24 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $448.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $183.43 and its 200 day moving average is $167.96. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $194.48.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $24.02 billion for the quarter. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 32.73%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.19%.

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.