Dean Investment Associates LLC Lowers Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Dean Investment Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,444 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,108 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 1.1% of Dean Investment Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $7,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,723,000 after acquiring an additional 329,473 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 394.0% during the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,668,000 after buying an additional 8,207 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth about $262,000. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,180,000 after acquiring an additional 4,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on JNJ. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.78.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $153.95 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $159.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $371.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.65 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.59%.

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.