Rench Wealth Management Inc. Has $8.16 Million Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Rench Wealth Management Inc. lessened its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,391 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,795 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises about 2.8% of Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $8,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,522,447,000 after purchasing an additional 431,205 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,126,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,766,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,975 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $154.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.38 and a 200-day moving average of $155.11. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99. The company has a market cap of $371.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 25th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.50.

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.