Gradient Investments LLC Sells 572 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Gradient Investments LLC lessened its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,305 shares of the company’s stock after selling 572 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $24,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 245,340,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,078,885,000 after buying an additional 2,815,655 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 141,886,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,178,548,000 after buying an additional 803,013 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 3.3% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,428,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,154,022,000 after purchasing an additional 805,831 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 18,839,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,344,295,000 after purchasing an additional 421,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 20.8% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,725,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,323,883,000 after purchasing an additional 3,229,032 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.94% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $152.38 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $150.71 and a 52-week high of $186.69. The stock has a market cap of $396.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $161.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.88.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $23.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.90 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 35.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.5 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, insider James D. Swanson sold 1,062 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.66, for a total transaction of $164,248.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,191.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Atlantic Securities raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. SVB Leerink dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $194.00 to $186.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 20th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.73.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

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Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research and development, manufacture and sale of products in the health care field. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Health, Pharmaceutical, and MedTech. The Consumer Health segment includes products focused on personal healthcare used in the Skin Health/Beauty, Over-the-Counter medicines, Baby Care, Oral Care, Women’s Health and Wound Care markets.