Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $105.75 Million Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Empower Advisory Group LLC trimmed its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 731,257 shares of the company's stock after selling 103,620 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $105,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the third quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the company's stock worth $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,211 shares of the company's stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.1% during the third quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 6,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,016,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Corepath Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Corepath Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,560 shares of the company's stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research began coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $162.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.67.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ traded up $2.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $162.35. The company had a trading volume of 12,540,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,073,381. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $168.85. 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 market cap of $390.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.52. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $148.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.89.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 74.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 directly 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. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.