Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Reduces Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,934 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,647 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $13,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $3.51 on Friday, reaching $157.42. The company had a trading volume of 10,972,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,945,892. The firm has a market cap of $379.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $159.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.95. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $140.68 and a 1 year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.18. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company had revenue of $21.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.65 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is a boost from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 74.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on JNJ. Leerink Partners lowered 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. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Argus raised shares of Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.82.

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.