Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is LSV Asset Management's 8th Largest Position

LSV Asset Management cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,460,642 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,758 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 1.2% of LSV Asset Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 0.14% of Johnson & Johnson worth $500,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on JNJ shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $171.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on 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. StockNews.com upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.50.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 1.2 %

Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $1.82 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $153.55. 4,211,649 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,939,132. 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 $370.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $159.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.17. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $140.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson & Johnson news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company'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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,645.88. This 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 available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Corporate 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.