Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Cuts Stock Position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC cut its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,902 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,490 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $4,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JNJ. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,472,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,723,000 after buying an additional 329,473 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 394.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,668,000 after purchasing an additional 8,207 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,892 shares of the company's stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $262,000. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 10.1% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,765 shares of the company's stock worth $8,180,000 after acquiring an additional 4,640 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on JNJ shares. Bank of America cut 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This trade represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 2.3 %

Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $3.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $157.42. 10,972,370 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,960,814. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $379.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.06. 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 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 firm had revenue of $21.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.65 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Johnson & Johnson's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is currently 74.59%.

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.