Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Trims Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. reduced its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 198,218 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,491 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $28,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,321,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,036 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock worth $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,126,079 shares of the company's stock worth $2,766,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,357,552.70. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

NYSE JNJ traded down $0.39 on Friday, reaching $154.54. 8,642,889 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,921,502. The stock has a market cap of $372.42 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. 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 has a 12 month low of $140.68 and a 12 month high of $169.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.88.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on JNJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Leerink Partners lowered 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.82.

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.