Rathbones Group PLC Sells 224,058 Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Rathbones Group PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Free Report) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 983,260 shares of the company's stock after selling 224,058 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $142,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 232,792,559 shares of the company's stock worth $33,666,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,667,920 shares of the company's stock worth $8,321,881,000 after buying an additional 1,561,036 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth $4,390,037,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,356,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,522,447,000 after buying an additional 431,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 6.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $181.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners reduced their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $157.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $171.67.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,001 shares in the company, 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 through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE JNJ traded up $2.99 on Friday, hitting $151.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,837,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,928,263. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $140.68 and a 52-week high of $169.99. The firm has a market cap of $365.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $159.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.27.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.