Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC Trims Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 38.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,673 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,684 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,108,370 shares of the company's stock valued at $449,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011,533 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 16,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 356,600 shares of the company's stock worth $51,571,000 after buying an additional 105,000 shares during the period. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,302,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,438,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $352,252,000 after acquiring an additional 158,873 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.67.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of JNJ stock traded down $2.29 on Thursday, reaching $148.68. 7,778,407 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,916,323. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $159.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.37. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $140.68 and a 52 week 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 market capitalization of $358.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. 0.16% of the stock is owned by 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.