Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,201,688 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,244 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson accounts for about 0.6% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $173,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $453,000. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $949,000. Horan Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 7,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 205,580.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,487,000 after buying an additional 10,279 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on JNJ shares. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners downgraded shares of 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 note on Tuesday, May 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.88.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $152.50 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.75. The company has a market cap of $366.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $21.89 billion for 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%. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Johnson & Johnson

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.