Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 346,016 shares of the company's stock after selling 81,827 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $50,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total value of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $62,928.45. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on JNJ. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.82.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE:JNJ traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $154.54. 8,642,889 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,928,484. The business's 50-day moving average price is $159.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $371.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. Johnson & Johnson has a 12-month low of $140.68 and a 12-month high of $169.99.

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

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 57.84%.

Johnson & Johnson 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.