Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Trims Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC decreased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 48.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,265 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,132 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 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 issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $175.00 to $163.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.33.

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Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNJ traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $164.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,602,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,607,786. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $158.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.23. The company has a market capitalization of $396.32 billion, a PE ratio of 24.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.